‘The numbers don’t work’: Hospital expansion needs funding

Preserving local health care comes at a cost to municipalities like Bradford and Innisfil.

That was the message from Stevenson Memorial Hospital president and chief executive officer (CEO) Jody Levac during a public meeting at the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library Thursday evening, Feb. 29, to update the community on the progress of the hospital’s expansion for which construction is expected to begin in 2025 and finish in 2028.

“I can’t come in and ask this council for money,” Levac said. “At the same time, I don’t have enough money, and if the municipalities don’t get involved in helping hospitals, the numbers don’t work.”

To deal with increased demand, Levac detailed how the 14,121-square-metre (152,000-square-foot) expansion would wrap around the existing 6,503-sq-m (70,000 sq-ft.) building from 1964 on the site at 200 Fletcher Cres., in Alliston.

The hospital currently sees 35,000 to 40,000 emergency department (ED) visits each year at a facility originally designed to handle only about 7,000, according to Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation CEO Mary Thomas.

“That alone speaks volumes. The need is now,” she said.

The work involves redesigning the hospital’s clinical areas including the ED, laboratory, medical/surgical (inpatient), diagnostic imaging, surgical suite, birthing unit, pharmacy and medical device reprocessing.

All new patient rooms are intended to be single occupancy with their own washrooms and the three-storey expansion is planned to be connected to the main building but separated by a 7.3-m (24-ft.) exterior corridor to allow natural light into all the patient areas and create an outdoor gathering space.

That design will also reduce the impacts on the original building, which the province has required to remain open and operating during construction, according to Levac.

“We get to fly the plane and build it too,” he said.

The cost of that build is estimated to be about $365 million, of which the province is set to cover 90 per cent, leaving the remaining 10 per cent up to the hospital’s foundation.

However, Thomas explained their portion is actually greater.

“The Ontario government does not pay for the equipment in the hospital,” she said, explaining “they take care of the bricks and mortar,” but everything from the seats in the waiting room to equipment like MRI machines “is paid for by community donations.”

As a result, the foundation’s ‘Because of you, we can’ campaign set a goal of $43 million, and is currently 70 per cent of the way there, with $3.5 million being raised last year alone.

Multiple organizations and businesses have made contributions, but Thomas noted that “no donation is too small.”

Levac speculated that if the province’s treasury board designated the project differently it would lead to more bids for construction and could help reduce costs, which he estimates to have “doubled” from $600 per square foot when Premier Doug Ford visited the hospital on Nov. 15, 2021 to $1,200 per square foot now.

Last year alone, non-residential construction costs increased by eight to 10 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2022 to the fourth quarter of 2023, based on data from Statistics Canada.

Beyond construction costs, Levac said the expansion is also set to include an estimated $12-million increase to operating costs, including 161 new staff.

While the design isn’t fully finalized, Levac is confident “the footprint is not going to change,” noting the province already provided approval for the expansion on March 16, 2022.

While negotiations continue over the design of mechanicals, an atrium and the obstetrics unit, preliminary work is already underway on water, sewer and a new parking lot, after the Mary McGill Community Mental Health building was demolished in November.

Despite noting its historical importance, Levac called the building “woefully inadequate” for the hospital’s needs adding “it costs a fortune to heat and a fortune to cool and it’s filled with asbestos.”

The expansion is also proposed to include a relocation of the helipad, pending approval from the federal government.

In addition to improving on-site facilities, Levac explained the hospital is also working with Riverwood Senior Living to offer a transitional program for people awaiting long-term care, and with Bayshore HealthCare to provide home care to patients via the Stevenson@Home program.

The expansion efforts also saw support from Mayor James Leduc, who welcomed members of Stevenson to Bradford and pledged to work “collaboratively” with them to “navigate the ever-evolving landscape of health care” and to “strengthen our partnership and ensure continued well-being of the community.”

Anyone who missed the Bradford meeting can still learn more and ask questions about the project during another meeting planned for Wednesday, March 6 at 6:30 p.m. at The Glass Manor at Cookstown Antique Market, 5108 County Rd. 27.

To learn more about the expansion and ways to support the foundation, visit transformingstevenson.ca.