News

Hundreds show support for new regional hospital at Community Town Hall

17 January 2024

Kitchener, ON – January 17, 2024 – Hundreds of community members from across Waterloo Region tuned in – live and online – last night as hospital leaders from Grand River Hospital (GRH) and St. Mary’s General Hospital (SMGH) gave an update on Building the Future of Care Together project. This is a joint project between the hospitals for the new and renewed hospital facilities in our region.

The project includes a proposed new state-of-the-art hospital, renewing and repurposing Grand River’s mid-town Kitchener-Waterloo campus into an ambulatory and urgent care centre, and expanding the Freeport campus to increase rehabilitation services.

Leaders from both GRH and SMGH provided updates on the Building the Future of Care Together project including:

  • The vision for the new hospital
  • Information on why a new hospital is needed in Waterloo Region and why the hospitals are partnering on this project
  • Current status of the project, including the work underway to identify a site for the new, shared hospital
  • A commitment to continue to engage the community on planning moving forward

The hospital leaders and members of the boards also took questions from the community. A replay of the event can be found on the Rogers Community TV website and on the Building the Future of Care Together YouTube channel.

“We are grateful for the support the community has shown for this project,” says Mark Fam, President, St. Mary’s General Hospital. “We know that 1 in every 2.5 people in our cities and townships use our hospitals each year, and that need is growing. As we address the challenges we face today, we’re planning for the future. A new hospital and renewed infrastructure across our organizations will provide us the space to care for more patients, the opportunity to be innovative, and will encourage health care providers to come and work with us.”

“This is a once-in-a-generation project and ensuring the communities we serve are a part of the project is paramount to its success,” says Ron Gagnon, President and CEO, Grand River Hospital. “We are in the early phases of this project and it’s a long journey; it’ll likely be about 10 years before we see the new hospital built. Hearing from you and building this hospital according to the needs of the community will be so important. Over the coming months, we will provide numerous opportunities for you to provide input on our plans, ask questions and seek more information.​”

The Community Town Hall, held at the Kitchener Public Library, was the first of a series of events that will be held across Waterloo Region. Future dates for the Community Town Hall series will be announced soon.

Stay Connected 

Updates on the site selection process and opportunities to provide feedback can be found on the Building the Future of Care Together website: futureofcaretogether.ca. Comments and questions can be sent to info@futureofcaretogether.ca.