New Lakeridge hospital to be built in Whitby

WHITBY, Ont. – Ontario premier Doug Ford and health minister Sylvia Jones announced this month that the town of Whitby, Ontario is getting a new hospital. It’s part of a number of expansions to the entire Lakeridge Health system in Oshawa, Bowmanville, Whitby, Ajax and Pickering.

“This investment in the health of communities throughout the Durham Region is truly a game-changer. It will enable Lakeridge Health to continue to advance our vision of a comprehensive, integrated system of care,” said Lakeridge president and CEO Cynthia Davis (pictured). “Today’s announcement means our rapidly growing and diverse population will be able to receive exceptional and specialized care close to home, in a safe and timely manner, within and beyond the walls of our Lakeridge Health hospitals.”

The province will be working in partnership with Lakeridge Health as it moves forward now with the redevelopment and continues planning for the proposed new hospital.

The sale of land to the Town of Whitby will be subject to all government requirements and progress towards the new hospital includes remediation of the land.

Jones told reporters the hope is to have the new hospital operational in the next 10 years.

To date, the Ontario government has provided more than $12-million in capital planning grants to support Lakeridge Health’s master redevelopment plan, as part of a larger overall investment to complete this multi-phase expansion. The expansion of Lakeridge’s services and hospital campuses will add a total of 300 new hospital beds and enhance services throughout the region, including:

• Redeveloping the Bowmanville Hospital to double the hospital’s capacity by adding 32 new beds and building new state-of-the-art facilities to expand inpatient and ambulatory care services and the emergency department.
• Building a new Whitby Hospital to improve access to fast and convenient care.
• A new post-acute care centre in Pickering to connect more patients and their families to rehabilitation and recovery supports.
• Creating space for acute care capacity at the Oshawa site by relocating some services to a new post-acute care centre in Pickering.
• Later phases of the redevelopment plan under consideration include expanding the Ajax Pickering Hospital to connect more people to clinical and support services.

The precise distribution of the 300 new beds across Lakeridge Health’s various sites will be determined as part of the ongoing planning process.

“This funding will be pivotal in advancing our plans for a new hospital, a standalone Complex Continuing Care and Rehabilitation Centre, the expansion of tertiary care services at Oshawa Hospital as well as infrastructure improvements at Ajax Pickering Hospital,” said Dr. Randy Wax, chief of staff at Lakeridge Health. “This dramatically enhances our ability to ensure patients can get timely exceptional care in the right clinical environment to match their needs. We are so excited that new specialized care will be made available locally for all of Durham Region. This incredible announcement will support and accelerate our vision of One System. Best Health.”