New brain sciences centre comes to Sunnybrook

TORONTO – Ontario announced the province will invest up to $60 million to support the construction of the Garry Hurvitz Brain Sciences Centre, a new, state-of-the-art facility dedicated to brain and mental health at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

“Investing in the new Garry Hurvitz Brain Sciences Centre at Sunnybrook, the first centre of its kind in Canada, is part of our plan to end hallway healthcare and support innovation and integrated care,” said Health Minister Christine Elliott (pictured) at the announcement. “This project will help bring together key services currently scattered throughout the aging hospital. It will add more beds, expand outpatient clinic services, support better integrated care and provide doctors and researchers with the right tools, equipment and space to make new discoveries that could significantly improve quality of life and even save lives.”

Expected to be completed by December 2022, the new centre will bring together healthcare teams from across the brain sciences field such as psychiatry, neurology, imaging, neurosurgery and geriatric medicine.

As a provincial resource for mental healthcare and research, the centre will be the largest youth mental health service in the Greater Toronto Area and will include:

• An expanded family navigation project to support youth aged 13 to 26 and their families find and access the care they need;
• 12 new inpatient mental health beds (bringing the total number of beds to 48) that will provide more support for adults, youth and those who need intensive care;
• A centre for youth bipolar disorder and a centre for anxiety disorders;
• Neuromodulation services for those with severe medication and treatment resistant mental health disorders;
• One of the largest Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) clinics of its kind in Canada;
• The largest traumatic brain injury clinic of its kind in Ontario; and
• Sleep disorder services and ambulatory clinics.

“Sunnybrook is grateful to the province for the tremendous and essential investment in what will be a leading-edge resource for brain and mental healthcare in the province and beyond,” said Dr. Andy Smith, president and chief executive officer of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

“We are also deeply appreciative of the incredible support from the community and our significant lead donors. Sunnybrook’s new Garry Hurvitz Brain Sciences Centre will revolutionize brain and mental healthcare by connecting experts in a state-of-the-art facility that will foster innovation and discovery, while providing compassionate support for patients along their health care journey.”

The new three storey Garry Hurvitz Brain Health Sciences Centre will be about 121,000 square feet.