Ontario Building a More Connected Health Care System for Durham Region

 The Ontario government is building and expanding health care infrastructure across Durham Region to better meet the needs of residents for decades to come. The multi-phase redevelopment will build a more connected system of care across the region and includes projects to expand Lakeridge Health’s hospital campuses in Bowmanville, Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax and Pickering.

“Our government is investing to ensure that people in the growing communities of Durham have access to the convenient care they need, close to home,” said Premier Doug Ford. “These investments will support the development of a robust health care system for all of Durham Region that puts people at the centre of care.”

To date, the Ontario government has provided more than $12 million in capital planning grants to support Lakeridge Health’s master redevelopment plan, as part of a larger overall investment to complete this multi-phase expansion. The expansion of Lakeridge’s services and hospital campuses will add a total of 300 new hospital beds and enhance services throughout the region, including:

• Redeveloping the Bowmanville Hospital to double the hospital’s capacity by adding 32 new beds and building new state-of-the-art facilities to expand inpatient and ambulatory care services and the emergency department.
• Building a new Whitby Hospital to improve access to fast and convenient care.
• A new post-acute care centre in Pickering to connect more patients and their families to rehabilitation and recovery supports.
• Creating space for acute care capacity at the Oshawa site by relocating some services to a new post-acute care centre in Pickering.
• Later phases of the redevelopment plan under consideration include expanding the Ajax Pickering Hospital to connect more people to clinical and support services.

The precise distribution of the 300 new beds across Lakeridge Health’s various sites will be determined as part of the ongoing planning process.

Lakeridge Health serves more than 700,000 residents at five hospitals and more than 20 community health centres across Durham Region. Through this multi-phase redevelopment, the Ontario government is ensuring Lakeridge Health can continue to meet the needs of Durham Region’s rapidly growing population and provide people with care, when and where they need it.

“Under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government is making record investments to build a health care system that lasts, connecting more people in Durham Region and across Ontario to the care they need, when they need it,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “We will continue to take bold, decisive action to expand capacity and build modern, state-of-the-art facilities across the province to reduce wait times and ensure people of all ages can access fast, convenient care, close to home.”

Through Your Health: A Plan For Connected and Convenient Care, the Ontario government is making it easier for people of all ages to connect to the care they need, when they need it. This includes building new hospitals to expand services available to people in their community while reducing wait lists and wait times.

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