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Phase 1 Expansion Project

RVH Phase 1 Expansion Project

 

Aerial view / artist rendering of the new Royal Victoria Hospital and Simcoe Muskoka Regional Cancer Centre 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RVH Phase 1 Expansion Project at a glance

This $400 million redevelopment will double the size of the existing hospital and includes:

• the Simcoe Muskoka Regional Cancer Centre, which will log more than 60,000 patient visits in its first year
• 101 new inpatient beds, including a dedicated Coronary Care Unit for critically ill cardiac patients
• an Emergency Department that will triple in size and includes a trauma unit, isolation ward and mental health crisis team
• an expanded Diagnostic Imaging Department will double in size to increase patient flow and privacy
• an expanded Laboratory
• two new Operating Rooms which are larger than existing suites for complex surgeries
• expansion space for two future patient care units

Also being built is Rotary House, a residential lodge for cancer patients and their families who live more than 40 kilometers outside Barrie.

Ready – Set – Build 

   Royal Victoria Hospital is officially a construction zone!
   The hospital campus is bustling with bulldozers, dump trucks and construction crews as work for RVH’s ambitious Phase 1 Expansion Project gets well underway. Vanbots, a division of Carillion Construction Inc., will spend the next three years completing the $400 million project that, when complete in late 2011, will double the size of the existing hospital.
   “This is the largest capital project in Simcoe Muskoka history, and begins a new chapter in Royal Victoria Hospital’s history,” says Janice Skot, RVH President and Chief Executive Officer. “This redevelopment is a tremendous investment by the provincial government, City of Barrie and County of Simcoe and will benefit people throughout this region for generations to come.”
   The start of construction comes during the worst economic downturn in recent history, and will provide a tremendous boost to the region’s economy. At the peak of construction, more than 200 workers will be onsite every day and according to Joel Parke, Vanbots’ Vice President Client Services, “75 per cent of those workers will be local. There’s a lot of skilled labour in the Barrie region and it just makes sense that we hire locally for most of the trades.”
The expansion project will provide more than 1,000 person-years of construction work, opportunities for local suppliers and a significant spin-off impact. Once open, RVH will have hired over 1,000 new employees and physicians.   
   And according to Skot, “the expansion can’t be completed soon enough”.
   Just a dozen years after the Georgian Drive opened its doors, RVH is bursting at the seams thanks to a population which is exploding. According to Statistics Canada, Barrie is the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the country, growing at a rate four times the national average. 176,000 people are expected to call Barrie home by 2021, with Simcoe County’s population hitting 580,000.
Clearly the demand for RVH programs and services will continue to grow.
“On most days, there is not an empty bed to found in this hospital, but the expansion is the light at the end of the tunnel,” says Skot.
   Last year RVH was over 100 per cent occupancy 90 per cent of the days. That meant:
• over 7,500 patients were cared for in hallways, while waiting for a bed to become available on a patient care unit
• more than 220 elective surgeries were cancelled because there were no beds for those patients to recover in
• almost 4,600 patients grew so frustrated by the long waits in the Emergency Department, they left before seeing a physician
   Once expansion construction is complete, significant renovations will begin on the existing hospital, including construction of the new operating rooms. By 2012 the work will be complete and Royal Victoria Hospital will be better able to meet the needs of this growing region.
This dream has become a reality thanks to the unwavering support of individuals, businesses and services clubs from right across Simcoe Muskoka. The RVH Auxiliary kicked-off the “I Believe” Capital Campaign in 2004 with a staggering commitment of $5 million. Since then people throughout the region have contributed a staggering $34 million of the $35 million campaign goal.
   “Support from area residents has been outstanding,” says David Blenkarn, chair of the RVH Foundation and the “I Believe” campaign. “They understand that an expanded Royal Victoria Hospital will touch all their lives. They’ve proven just how much they ‘believe’ in bringing care closer to home.”