The Ford government has announced it will spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a new hospital tower in Toronto, promising more beds and operating rooms.
In an announcement on Tuesday, the government said the new tower would be built as part of the Toronto Western Hospital at Dundas and Bathurst streets.
The tower will add 82 new patient beds, 20 operating rooms and new rooms designed to reduce the spread of infection and outbreaks. The province said the project is expected to cost $794 million.
“This new tower will help provide modern and high-quality care to the more than 450,000 people who visit Toronto Western Hospital each year,” Ontario Premier Doug Ford said.
“In Toronto and right across the province, our government is making historic investments for a stronger health care system, with more doctors and nurses, more beds and shorter wait times. We’re bringing convenient care closer to home for more people.”
The province said the expansion would allow the University Health Network, which runs Toronto Western Hospital, to complete 20 per cent more surgeries over the next decade.
UHN president Kevin Smith says the investment will enhance Toronto Western’s ongoing work on complex neurological and orthopedic cases.
Health Minister Sylvia Jones said was part of a broader spending plan.
“The new University Health Network patient and surgical tower at Toronto Western Hospital is just one part of our plan to ensure patients can access world class, convenient care, for years to come,” Jones said.
— with a file from The Canadian Press