Windsor’s new mega-hospital is one step closer to becoming a reality.
A Stage 1A report which outlines the future facility’s preliminary plans was unanimously approved by both Windsor Regional Hospital and Hotel-Dieu Grace boards Oct. 29, sources revealed to The Star.
Described as the first step in moving forward with the plan for the new state-of-the-art acute care hospital, Stage 1A is the foundation for the hospital’s long-range capital plans, according to sources.
Some highlights of the report include an increase in staff in critical care and operating rooms, an increase in the operating budget and, effectively, an increase in beds.
Hotel-Dieu renovation scaled down
While the number-of-beds projection is equivalent to the number of beds currently available in the community, the completion of the Schlegal Villages long-term care facility at St. Clair College will decrease the number of hospital beds being used by alternate level of care patients – which is about 100 – by 50 per cent.
Also, under the direction of the Erie St. Clair LHIN, and with the support of community healthcare providers, a Community Capacity Plan will be implemented that will see some hospital services and procedures moved into the community and offering what sources say is “a better patient experience by providing the right care, in the right location, by the right provider,” and thus further opening up hospital beds for acute care.
Sources say the Community Capacity Plan is about looking at which services should be offered in the community instead of inside a hospital and developing an integrated approach to service delivery.
With these strategic changes, the report suggests there will be an immediate increase in the number of hospital beds available to the community.
Mock-up of mega-hospital will allow input for final design
The report also outlines the new facility’s plan for improved infection control through the construction of more private rooms. Eighty per cent of the rooms in the new mega-hospital will be for single patients to limit the spread of infections. Currently, only 29 per cent of rooms at the Met Campus and 16 per cent of rooms at the Ouellette Campus are private.
The report was created by the Capital Planning Steering Committee, which was established by the Erie St. Clair LHIN in May to prepare the Stage 1A submission to the government. The committee is made up of 15 members who are local health care officials and city and county representatives. It is chaired by David Musyj, Windsor Regional Hospital CEO, and Dave Cooke, former chair of the Erie St. Clair LHIN.
More than 150 medical leaders from both the hospital and community agencies were also directly involved in the creation of the Stage 1A report.
A source working closely on the project said while a location for the new mega-hospital will be determined the Stage 1B and Stage 2 planning stages, the physical “greenfield site” will specifically be chosen to have flexibility to allow for the possibility of expansion to open more beds – which is something the current “land-locked” sites prohibit.
Size and cost of the mega-hospital will also be determined during the next phase.
The report also outlines the need for a new education and research hub in the new complex. The current facilities do not support the needs of local nursing and medical students, so the new hospital will focus on providing clinical research opportunities, geared to strengthening the research and scholarship culture locally and putting Windsor-Essex in a better position to recruit and retain top physicians, front-line staff and medical leaders.
The report also has a plan to avoid what happened with the former Grace Hospital site. Sources said the report outlines funding for the future use of both the Met and Ouellette campuses is included in the budget for the project, as well as an alternative funded plan if necessary.
Approval from both the Erie St. Clair LHIN and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care is necessary before moving on to the next stages in the project. The LHIN is expected to consider the report at its board meeting on Tuesday.
The next stage will take nine-12 months to complete, and all five stages are expected to take between seven and 10 years to complete.
Sources said an official announcement of the report’s approval will be made Monday.
