Georgian Bay General Hospital looks to future with $100M expansion plans

As the population continues to grow in Simcoe Muskoka, Georgian Bay General Hospital (GBGH) is planning for the future with a new hospital.

 “We continue to be bursting from the seams from a hospital perspective and we need more space to serve a growing and aging community,” said Matthew Lawson CEO and President of GBGH.

 The Midland-based hospital serves thousands of patients who live, work, and visit the area each year. But as time passes, Lawson says capacity has become stretched with the hospital now focused on what could be a new space for health care.

 “The initial phase being a new mental health wing that will attach to the existing hospital, and then the second phase will be eventually the site of a new hospital, and we hope to be able to continue to support the community at the aging growth of our communities,” said Lawson.

 According to Lawson, the plan is to build the new hospital on 22 acres of land adjacent to the current hospital, with the $100 million project making room for 240 beds, four operating rooms and the capacity to serve over 70 thousand patients each year, added space that physicians say would be game-changing for patient care.

 “There absolutely needs to be new capacity. We have patients waiting in our emergency department for over 100 hours, that’s upwards of four days to be able to get seen by a psychiatrist. That is unacceptable,” said Dr. Vikram Ralhan, Chief of Staff at GBGH.

 As the hospital looks towards supporting additional patients, the new plans would also see the creation of new employment opportunities. The hospital is projecting to add 500 new jobs once the new space is created.

 “There is a significant need to raise local funds to support the cost of building these hospitals the Ministry of Health provides 90 per cent of the construction cost, but hospitals and their foundation are responsible for 10 per cent of the project and all of the equipment within the hospitals. So raising that money can take a number of years and we want to be prepared for that,” said Lawson.

 Lawson says the project is still very much in the beginning stages. GBGH is waiting on provincial government approval. Once that is received, it can turn its focus to finalizing its design, with a goal to get shovels in the ground in the next 10 years.