{"id":31114,"date":"2022-04-14T19:20:57","date_gmt":"2022-04-14T23:20:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=31114"},"modified":"2022-04-21T17:02:07","modified_gmt":"2022-04-21T21:02:07","slug":"southlake-expansion-plans-get-5-million-boost-from-province","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/southlake-expansion-plans-get-5-million-boost-from-province\/","title":{"rendered":"Southlake expansion plans get $5 million boost from Province"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Plans to build a new campus for Southlake Regional Health Centre and transform its current base in Newmarket received a significant shot in the arm last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Friday afternoon, Health Minister Christine Elliott was joined by cabinet colleagues, Arden Krystal, President & CEO of Southlake Regional Health Centre, and area mayors to announce the Province has committed $5 million towards the hospital\u2019s expansion plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Ms. Krystal, due to significant growth in York Region and South Simcoe, Southlake is \u201cone of Ontario\u2019s most overcrowded hospitals\u201d and expansion is critically important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday\u2019s announcement brings more than just a promise of a new state-of-the-art hospital and the redevelopment of our Davis Drive site; it brings hope \u2013 hope for the nearly 6,000 staff, physicians, volunteers and learners who, despite working in an aging and undersized facility, provide leading-edge care with compassion every day. [It brings] hope for patients, caregivers and families in the diverse communities that we serve. They have experienced hallway healthcare for far too long and today\u2019s announcement gives them assurance that a new Southlake is on the horizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis news is especially important for Southlake\u2019s dedicated staff and physicians. In the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges, they have continued to deliver a response to the pandemic that our communities will be proud of for generations to come. Today signals new beginnings and optimism for the future: a future where the environment for care can match the quality of care and the outstanding people providing it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201coutstanding\u201d people that have been providing healthcare within Southlake\u2019s walls were given special mention by Ms. Elliott, MPP for Newmarket-Aurora.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor the last decade, this hospital has provided exceptional care to patients and families in York Region and Simcoe County, first as York County Hospital and now as Southlake,\u201d she said. \u201cThe dedication of healthcare workers, staff and volunteers has been truly inspiring both past and present. Long before any of us had heard of COVID-19, our government made a commitment to end hallway health care. The last two years have only reinforced how important it is to build a stronger, more resilient healthcare system. Our world-class healthcare workers need more help though to continue to provide high-quality health care to patients and to continue to build on Southlake\u2019s 100-year legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is why it [gives] me great pleasure to announce\u2026that our government is extending $5 million to expand Southlake. This marks the first significant acute care expansion at the hospital since 2003, despite the fact it serves some of the fastest-growing communities in the entire Province\u2026 This investment will help Southlake plan its phased expansion to become a two-site hospital system that will meet the needs of patients and families now and for generations to come. This expansion plans to build a new state-of-the-art hospital and redevelopment of the existing site.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through this project, 100 new inpatient beds are expected to be added to Southlake, bringing their total number of beds to over 600. Services, including acute and post-acute care, critical and emergency care, and mental health and addiction care, will be further expanded as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs phases of the plan are completed, families will be able to look forward to increased access to the high-quality care and services that they need and deserve,\u201d Ms. Elliott concluded. \u201cThank you to everyone who has come together to support Southlake\u2019s expansion. Together, we\u2019re building a stronger, more resilient healthcare system and a hospital that is truly by the community\u2019s side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This theme of Southlake being \u201cby the community\u2019s side\u201d was echoed by York-Simcoe MPP Caroline Mulroney, who said the $5 million investment is a \u201cwin\u201d for the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy building a new state-of-the-art hospital and redeveloping existing infrastructure, our PC government is making sure that the needs of our rapidly-growing region continue to be met by high-quality care,\u201d she said. \u201cThat is something we can all be proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephen Lecce, MPP for King-Vaughan added this was an \u201cexceptionally positive step\u201d for the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am here to echo a message of gratitude [and] express our shared commitment to getting this project done and moving it forward in a positive way for families across York and the GTA,\u201d he said. \u201cToday\u2019s announcement gives tremendous hope to families who for so long have wanted to access care in their community. With this expansion of hospitals right across the GTHA, including right here in York, this project will build tremendous confidence, hope and opportunity for the best care available in Ontario.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Southlake, noted Newmarket Mayor John Taylor, is \u201cour community\u2019s most important asset without question\u201d and thousands upon thousands of families have relied on the hospital and its team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe tricky part is we\u2019ve relied on it for many, many years and we have got such an exceptional level of service, but we\u2019re growing very rapidly in this area,\u201d said Mayor Taylor. \u201cSouthlake finds itself in the unenviable position of having one of the busiest emergency rooms in Ontario. They have had to unfortunately become experts in areas you shouldn\u2019t need expertise in: hallway healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added Ms. Krystal: \u201cIt takes a village to get a project of this size approved and everyone you see in this room today has leant their voice to a call for a new Southlake. It was mentioned before at Southlake our tagline is \u2018By Your Side.\u2019 Today\u2019s announcement reassures everyone in our hospital family and our communities that our Provincial government is also by our side. I know you\u2019re all as excited as I am to complete the next steps of planning and to get shovels in the ground as quickly as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new campus for Southlake Regional Health Centre was identified in its most recent master plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several options were considered to meet the current and future demands of the community, with an option to keep ambulatory care at the current Davis Drive site and shift acute inpatient services to a new site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was the preferred option, the hospital said, because it \u201cmaximizes use of existing assets over time; aligns best with emerging trends in healthcare; minimizes service delivery disruption and impacts on patients, families, staff and our community;\u201d and it is the lowest-cost option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more on Southlake\u2019s future plan, visit anewsouthlake.ca.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Local hospital continues plan for second campus to serve growing communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":31103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/2022-04-14-01.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-85Q","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-16 16:37:52","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31114\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}