Orillia makes headway on new hospital

Soldiers Memorial Hospital in Orillia will soon be bigger and better, with officials making headway into the total space needs of the hospital.

A brand new big, blue sign identifying Orillia’s soon-to-be built hospital sits on Lakehead university property in the city Wednesday night.

Many residents are eager to see a new hospital is coming.

“I think it’s a great idea - we get a new hospital. We need it, we never have enough beds,” says Nancy Mcainnon, an Orillia resident for the past 25 years.

The sign was put up last week after the province gave official approval to move the planning process on the hospital to what’s called stage 1.3.

“1.3 is the stage where we start to access the total space needs of the hospital. We do box cymatics, which is where we look at the different programs that we offer and how they develop clinical adjacencies,” says Tom Roberts, Interim President CEO for Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital. “All that information goes into developing the footprint of the hospital and that will help us develop a budget to move forward with.”

It’s exciting times for a growing city and area that desperately needs a new hospital.

“This will absolutely be a new and bigger and better hospital. Our population growth has increased significantly in recent years, our beds have increased by 40 per cent and that’s put a significant strain on our facility. We need more space to meet the growing needs of our community,” says Roberts.

The location next to the university is key, according to a number of city councillors. The city is being asked to approve the sale of some of Lakehead land by the university to the hospital to allow staff to move forward with the new build.

“That will be a significant investment in both institutions, but also in the economic growth of the whole community,” says City Councillor Janet-Lynne Dernford.

Orillia Mayor Don McIsaac says he isn’t necessarily opposed to the new location but has many questions that need answers before he’s ready to support the location. Hospital representatives will make a deputation to council on Monday.

“Since this is such a big decision, have they looked at the impact of the downtown? What happens to the doctors? What happens to the pharmacies, the clinics? The MRI clinics, that sort of stuff. What happens to these businesses as they locate? What’s the economic impact of that?” says McIsaac.

City staff say it is imperative that planning and future construction not face any kind of delays in this process. Residents are calling this one of the most important decisions in the city’s history.