Kingston General Hospital gets big financial boost from province for redevelopment

Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Dr. Eric Hoskins was in Kingston on Friday to announce that the province would be investing hundreds of millions of dollars for Kingston General Hospital’s redevelopment project.

The expansion includes a new eight-storey building on Stuart Street. It will feature a revamped emergency department and neonatal intensive care unit, as well as clinical labs, inpatient units and labour and delivery suites.

The project has a price tag of $500 million.

“This hospital site and Hotel Dieu serve over half a million people in Kingston and the Kingston area and so it’s so important that they have the highest quality health services,” said Hoskins.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "This hospital site and Hotel Dieu serve over half a million people in Kingston and the Kingston area and so it's so important that they have the highest quality health services," said Hoskins.

The expansion project has been in the works since 2011 and includes demolishing four buildings to make room for the new, state-of-the-art facility.

“That’s going to be a huge improvement on wait times, said Kingston and the Islands MPP Sophie Kiwala. “It’s going to be a huge improvement on the level of service.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "That's going to be a huge improvement on wait times, said Kingston and the Islands MPP Sophie Kiwala. "It's going to be a huge improvement on the level of service."

KGH is the oldest, public, active hospital in all of Canada. Officials say the expansion is needed not only to replace aging infrastructure but also to meet the changing needs of the community.

Kingston Health Sciences Centre is also being designated as a District Epilepsy Centre.

“Some patients with epilepsy are not able to drive, for example, so having care locally and not having to travel outside of the community actually provides better access and it really rounds out the programs that we have here,” said KGH vice-president of Admissions, Strategy and Communication, Elizabeth Bardon.

The hospital is still years away from shovels hitting the ground.

Before construction can begin, officials must first come up with a design for the building. Once that’s complete, it will go out to tender and bidding on the massive construction project can begin.

Even though the announcement from the province will help chip away at the $500-million price tag, the hospital must secure the remaining funds, which includes 10 per cent of the total construction budget as well as 100 per cent of the new equipment cost.