Ground broken for new South Niagara hospital

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. – Niagara residents are celebrating the start of construction on the new South Niagara hospital. On July 18, Premier Doug Ford along with Sylvia Jones, deputy premier and minister of Health, and Kinga Surma, minster of Infrastructure, joined Niagara Health and the Niagara Health Foundation to break ground on the 1.3-million-square-foot hospital.

The 12-storey building will hold 469 single patient bedrooms, eight operating suites, 42 hemodialysis stations and two MRI machines. It will offer a full scope of hospital services, including emergency, critical care, diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical services.

“Niagara residents have been planning, wishing, and waiting for this hospital for more than 10 years. I am thrilled that today we have officially broken ground on this exciting new facility,” said Lynn Guerriero (pictured), president and CEO of Niagara Health. “The hard work, planning, fundraising, and dedication from our teams and the community is making this dream a reality.”

The facility has been designed to meet the growing needs of Niagara’s aging population, featuring centres of excellence in complex care, wellness in aging and stroke.

“Today’s groundbreaking event for the new South Niagara hospital brings us one step closer to connecting the people of the growing Niagara region to more convenient care close to home for generations to come,” said the Premier.

Close to 300 guests witnessed the milestone event, including donors, local elected officials, Indigenous partners, community and patient partners, and Niagara Health leaders.

“It is a pleasure to be here for this historic milestone for the residents of Niagara Region,” said Minister Jones. “The new South Niagara hospital will significantly increase capacity to meet the needs of the region’s growing and aging population, ensuring Niagara communities can connect to the care they need, right in their own community close to home.”

The South Niagara hospital is also working to become the first WELL-certified hospital in Canada. By including design features that focus on the health and well-being of hospital users, including staff and physicians, Niagara Health will be able to offer a more positive workplace environment, which will help to attract and retain top healthcare professionals.

WELL is a performance-based system for measuring, certifying, and monitoring features of the built environment that impact human health and well-being, through air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort and mind. WELL is grounded in a body of medical research that explores the connection between the buildings where we spend more than 90 percent of our time, and the health and wellness impacts on us as occupants. WELL Certified spaces can help create a built environment that improves the nutrition, fitness, mood, sleep patterns and performance of its occupants.

The hospital will also feature an Indigenous healing space and garden that was designed with input from our Indigenous partners. These spaces were incorporated to create culturally safe and welcoming areas for Indigenous Peoples.

In February 2023, EllisDon Infrastructure Healthcare (EDIH) was awarded the $3.6-billion contract to design, build, finance and maintain the hospital. Teams have been busy working with Niagara Health staff, physicians, and patient and community partners on design development, ensuring the hospital design meets the complex needs of this state-of-the art healthcare facility that will serve Niagara for years to come.

The use of local sub-contractors and workers is a priority for the hospital project, which will bring multi-year economic benefits and boost employment and community growth in Niagara. EDIH has committed to exploring opportunities to support local business during construction and has awarded early sub-contracts to local businesses and labour unions.

Decew Construction (Rankin Construction) has already begun site work on the property in preparation for the construction trailer complex, which will be installed in the coming weeks. Excavation will begin by the end of the summer. The hospital will take five years to complete, with the official opening planned for summer 2028.