Kitchener’s two hospitals, Grand River and St. Mary’s General, will be holding a town hall next week to discuss the plan they are developing to build a new hospital for the area.
The town hall, which will take place at the Kitchener Public Library on Queen Street, has limited seating available but will be simulcast on Rogers TV.
Among those expected to appear on the panel are GRH president Ron Gagnon and SMGH president Mark Fam as well as Cliff Harvey, the man who has been hired to lead the development.
“Our communities are among the fastest growing in the province,” Gagnon stated in a release.
“This growth is increasing stress on our aging healthcare system. We need more beds and space, yes, but we also need the capacity to deliver on more innovations to meet the current and emerging health and wellness needs of our diverse communities.”
In the spring of 2022, the province gave the two hospitals $5 million to begin planning for a third hospital in the area as the rapidly-expanding region is expected to grow by a third over the next 20 years.
A couple of months later, GRH and SMGH said they had submitted a proposal to the Ontario government for the new hospital.
In addition to building a new hospital, they are also looking to turn Grand River Hospital into an ambulatory and urgent care centre while also increasing the rehabilitation capabilities of the Freeport Campus.
In July of 2023, the hospitals announced that they were expecting to have a site for the new hospital chosen by March of 2024.
Recently, they said that they were down to three potential sites for a new hospital.