Hotel Dieu expansion grant announced
Up to $500,000 invested to set things in motion
Niagara is getting another new health-care facility.
In addition to plans for new hospitals in Niagara, a revamped and expanded Hotel Dieu Shaver Rehabilitation Centre could also be a reality, after a planning grant of up to $500,000 was announced Friday by St. Catharines MPP Jim Bradley.
“The key is in the door. The gate is open. Let’s move forward,” Bradley told a gathering of Hotel Dieu Shaver board members and staff while announcing the funding.
“This redevelopment will result in a new modern patient tower that will provide additional beds and expanded care space to support rehabilitation programs … It will help to meet the needs of a rapidly aging population by strengthening the quality and safety of patient care.”
Hotel Dieu chief executive officer Jane Rufrano said the project will include a tower attached to the existing building, with 65 to 75 beds for patients, depending on the results of the planning exercise.
The new three-storey tower, to be located between the two wings of the existing facility on Glenridge Avenue in St. Catharines, could take three to five years before it’s a reality, said Rufrano, adding next steps include planning, community consultation and the final building design.
The expansion will bring the centre’s total capacity to about 200 beds, while allowing for a substantial increase in the number of patients accessing services, helping to address the wait list at the rehabilitation centre.
“Right now we have about 40,000 outpatient visits (per year), but with those new beds … we’ll probably have 70,000 out-patient visits,” Rufrano said.
She also hopes there will be room within the tower to expand existing rehab programs, and include all private rooms.
Increased access to rehab services will also help reduce the demand for services at Niagara area hospitals.
“We always say that acute care saves your life, rehab gives it back,” Rufrano said.
“If you’ve had a heart attack, acute care will get you going, but you have to come here to learn to walk again.”
Bradley attributed the success of Hotel Dieu’s funding application to the work of the rehab centre’s staff.
He said investments made in other Niagara hospitals didn’t help make the case for expanding Hotel Dieu, but “this is not another active treatment hospital.”
“This is not a duplication. … We have a distinctive role here.”