BARRIE, ONT. -- The Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) in Barrie has ambitious plans to expand its north campus and add a campus to the south.

RVH president and CEO Janice Skot said the multi-billion-dollar project intends to meet "explosive population growth" across the region.

"Keeping up with all the region's growth is very important to us," Skot said.

If the government approves the project, RVH would see the continuation of its $2.5 to $3 billion, three-phased expansion.

The hospital is currently in phase one, which started in 2005, and includes adding space to its neonatal intensive care unit while also adding three more suites to its adult patient ICU. Additionally, the hospital expects more radiation treatments at its cancer centre.

Once phase two is approved, the hospital will add 730-thousand square feet of new space in a nine-storey tower at the north campus.

"This tower will bring additional inpatient beds to our facility, 200 additional beds," Skot said.

It will also add more surgical space "to ensure that we can bring in the proper technology. All the right tools in the hands of our great practitioners and again keeping up with the population growth itself," she said.

The city reports more than 17,000 people moved to the area over the past five years. Barrie's population is now around 159,000, and the city anticipates it reaching 250,000 by 2040.

Hospital officials said it's not focused on the Barrie boom, with about 50 per cent of patients arriving from outside the city limits.

Simcoe County is home to more than 500,000 people, a number that will most definitely grow.

Currently, RVH has about 381 beds. If the government gives the expansion project's next phase the green light, it will jump to nearly 950 beds in the next 20 years.

On Nov. 26, CTV Barrie and its radio partners, 104.1 The Dock and Pure Country 106, will broadcast the RVH Streamathon, the RVH Spirit of Giving, to expand exceptional health care closer to home.

Watch the streamathon live on Thurs., Nov. 26, starting at 10 a.m.

PureHealth Pharmacy, located at RVH, is the proud title sponsor of the RVH Spirit of Giving Fundraiser.