On Tuesday, it was announced that UW was selected as the site for a new regional hospital. The hospital will be a joint effort from Grand River Hospital and St. Mary’s General Hospital, and is scheduled to open by 2034.

The news came during Tuesday’s announcement event, which was held on campus and attended by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Ontario Minister of Health Sylvia Jones, and leaders from Grand River Hospital, St. Mary’s General Hospital, and UW. Ford said that the new hospital will “​foster innovation, enhance research and better connect the growing region to convenient care closer to home.” UW president Vivek Goel also emphasized the opportunities it will provide for research and experiential learning, adding, “We look forward to playing a role alongside this new facility in advancing transformational health innovation in our region, our country and globally.”

The building site occupies 60 acres across part of UW’s David Johnston Research + Technology Park, with the decision to locate the new hospital there coming after a 10-month review process. Moving forward, there will be a five-year planning process which will be followed by five years of construction. St. Mary’s General Hospital will remain operational until the new hospital opens.

The project comes as part of a larger collaboration between Grand River and St. Mary’s General Hospitals, which will be merged into a single organization by the spring of 2025. The hospitals have created an initiative entitled “Building the Future of Care Together,” which aims to develop research and innovation opportunities in the local health care sector. As part of this initiative, the new hospital will introduce services and bring more hospital beds and acute care capacity to the region, according to the joint press release by UW and the hospitals. “Not only does the location make great sense in terms of patient accessibility, it also allows our organizations to deepen our relationship even further for the benefit of the communities we serve,” said Mark Fam, president of St. Mary’s. 

Video footage of the hospital site can be found here.