Feb 19. 2020 - For over a year, West Park Healthcare Centre has been preparing its grounds for the construction of a new, leading-rehabilitative hospital that will completely transform the grounds into a state-of-the-art campus of care with a significant increase in space for outpatient services, a new geriatric day hospital and satellite hemodialysis. Recently, patients, staff, families, community members and local politicians celebrated “The Big Dig,” officially marking the beginning of excavation for the new hospital.
“The transformation of our campus is beginning to feel real,” noted Anne Marie Malek, President and CEO of West Park. “Patients and staff are seeing progress every week and we are beginning to feel the excitement!”
It certainly looks real on the Buttonwood Avenue site. There is a clear indication of where the new six-storey hospital will be located, surrounded by green space, making for a truly scenic campus with a therapeutic feel.
Amongst those most excited for what the new hospital will bring to the community are York South-Weston MPP, Faisal Hassan and Toronto City Councillor, Frances Nunziata.
At the event Hassan noted, “I am thrilled to see shovels go into the ground on the new West Park Healthcare Centre in York South-Weston. This project will not only mean better health care in our community, but it will also mean economic and job opportunities right here in our neighbourhood thanks to the leadership of West Park.”
Although Nunziata could not be present, she has been a tremendous supporter of West Park’s project and sent along the message, “I've been working closely with West Park for several years to advance plans for their campus redevelopment and I am very excited for the ground-breaking of this project. I look forward to the expansion of valued healthcare services that West Park provides to the community. This new facility will have a tremendous positive impact within the Mount Dennis area and beyond.”
Event: Video Clip | Photo Gallery
Working in partnership with EllisDon, West Park’s campus has seen a significant amount of progress towards preparing the site and making important changes, including a new main entrance that will allow the Centre to continue to provide care and services to thousands of patients, while remaining operational during construction.
The new hospital, near Jane Street and Eglinton Avenue, will feature a 20 per cent increase of inpatient beds, with 80 per cent of the beds being in single-patient rooms. There will also be a significant increase in outpatient care space to serve double the current patient volume. The new hospital is set to open in 2023.
Of course, it wouldn’t be the Big Dig without our very own Lego Man, who burst through the auditorium doors and delivered a symbolic bucket of campus dirt from the excavation site.
Everyone in attendance had the opportunity to view the new hospital’s floor plans, see some of the new equipment that will be used, and learn about IT and Operational Readiness. Guests could also visit the Foundation’s booth to see what’s new in hospital fundraising as well as have all their construction questions answered by Campus Development staff.
The highlight of the event was a true representation of excited staff from around the hospital who were featured in an upbeat music video.