Building a
New Hospital

Grand River Hospital (GRH) and St. Mary’s General Hospital (SMGH) entered into a voluntary merger with a shared vision for the future of health care and new hospital infrastructure to care for more patients in our community closer to home for decades to come.

On April 01, 2025, the hospitals successfully came together to form the Waterloo Regional Health Network (WRHN, pronounced “wren”).

Through this building of a new hospital, we will create opportunities for strengthened research, education, innovation and technology in health. We will design facilities for future generations of health care workers and researchers right here in Kitchener-Waterloo.

By working with our community, our health system partners and our Ontario Health Teams, we’ll be empowered to provide care in ways we couldn’t do alone. This includes partnering with the Grand River Hospital Foundation and St. Mary’s General Hospital Foundation to make our shared vision a reality.

Honouring our distinct pasts.

We will build on our strong histories, unique differences and achievements. We share the goal of building state-of-the-art health infrastructure, expanding services, increasing capacity, and providing quality health care.

WRHN is shaping the future of health in our community by working and planning with our community partners. For our patients. Volunteers. Staff. For Waterloo Region and the communities we serve.

New Hospital Building Project Leadership

The WRHN Board of Directors are involved in major decisions regarding this project. A joint special committee of the board – the Building the Future of Care Together Committee – provides strategic oversight on our project to build new and renewed hospital facilities. The committee includes members of the hospital board and our community, including health care and municipal partners, to ensure all decisions are made with the communities we serve in mind.

The Building the Future of Care Together Committee consists of:
  • 8 WRHN Board Members
  • WRHN President/CEO
  • WRHN Chief of Staff
  • 1-2 Patient/family representative(s)
  • Region representative (Chair or CAO)
  • Cambridge Memorial Hospital representative (Chair or CEO)
  • Comprehensive Hospital Community Group representative
  • Foundation Board Chairs or delegate

The Committee is responsible for the governance of project matters and collaborates with other Board Committees as required. It is important for the Committee to engage with external experts or contracted consultants to ensure it makes informed decisions and recommendations on behalf of the project.

Committee Members

Building the Future of Care Together Committee members are:

  • David Graham, Board Vice Chair, GRH (Co-Chair)
  • Elizabeth Witmer, Board Member, SMGH (Co-Chair)
  • Corinna Riquelme, Patient and Family Representative, SMGH
  • David Higgins, SJHS
  • Janet Peddigrew, Board Member, GRH
  • Garth Cressman, Board Member, GRH
  • James Schlegel, Comprehensive Hospital Group
  • Karen Redman, Regional Chair, Region of Waterloo
  • Lynn Woeller, Board Chair, CMH
  • Mark Fam, President, SMGH
  • Melinda Gorgenyi, Board Member, SMGH
  • Peter Potts, Joint Chief of Medical Staff GRH/SMGH
  • Phil Pfeifer, Foundation Board Chair, SMGH
  • Ron Gagnon, President & CEO, GRH
  • Tim Rollins, Board Chair, SMGH
  • Tobi Day-Hamilton, Foundation Vice Chair, GRH

Timeline

In April 2022, the predecessor hospitals GRH and SMGH received a $5 million planning grant to support mapping out how we will build a new joint acute care hospital and how we will modernize and expand existing facilities in the Kitchener‐Waterloo region.

This planning grant from the Government of Ontario will help us determine exactly what services we will need, the best locations for these services based on our changing community, and how to deliver this project as quickly as possible.

As this project comes together, we will continue to provide high-quality care across both of our hospitals.

Our health system partners, governments and community will be engaged at all stages of the planning process. Government approvals are required to proceed through the planning stages.

Stay Connected

WRHN is partnering with the Grand River Hospital Foundation and St. Mary’s General Hospital Foundation to make our vision a reality. We will need your support every step of the way.