Dr Robert Howard

Ontario to invest $316 million in St. Michael’s

May 6, 2015

TORONTO – Ontario is supporting the expansion of St. Michael’s Hospital to provide patients with improved access to critical care services. The government is investing $316 million in the redevelopment of St. Michael’s Hospital to provide patients in the community with better access to a variety of critical services including cardiac care, cancer care and surgeries.

The new 17-storey Peter Gilgan Patient Care Tower and the renovation of 150,000 square feet of existing space will allow the hospital to fulfill its mandate as a regional trauma centre. The project also includes a new three-storey structure to replace the 100-year-old Shuter Wing.

“Our redevelopment project, especially the new 17-story patient care tower to care for critically ill patients and expanded emergency department, will transform patient care at St. Michael’s Hospital,” said Dr. Robert Howard (pictured), President and Chief Executive Officer of St. Michael’s Hospital. “The ground-breaking is exciting for us as it means we are that much closer to achieving our goal of becoming the premier critical-care hospital in Canada.”

Once the project is complete, patients will benefit from:

  •  Five new operating rooms, large enough to incorporate the latest medical imaging equipment such as MRIs, CT scanners and X-rays.
  •  Larger inpatient and intensive care units for orthopedic surgery, oncology, coronary care and respirology. Patients will have more space and privacy to be close to their families.
  •  An expanded emergency department that will accommodate nearly double the number of patient visits – increasing from 45,000 to more than 70,000 visits a year – to improve accessibility and safety.

Construction at St Michael’s Hospital is now under way and is expected to be complete in 2019.

Investing in hospital infrastructure is part of the government’s plan to build a better Ontario through its Patients First: Action Plan for Health Care, which is providing patients with faster access to the right care, better home and community care, the information they need to live healthy and a healthcare system that’s sustainable for generations to come.