Project Will Provide New Space for Perinatal and Gynaecology Program

TORONTO - Construction began today on Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre's M-Wing Shell and Perinatal and Gynaecology project, Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal David Caplan announced.

“The government is improving Ontario's health care system by rebuilding hospitals and expanding the types of health services offered throughout the province,” said Caplan. “Ontarians deserve the very best health care facilities we can offer and it's exciting for us to move forward with the expansion and redevelopment of the Perinatal and Gynaecology program at Sunnybrook.”

The redevelopment project will create space for Sunnybrook's Perinatal and Gynaecology program, including a state-of-the-art Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, integrating these services into the hospital's critical care system.

“I am pleased to see construction underway on a project that will provide new space to care for some of the province's most critically-ill newborns and high-risk pregnancies,” said Don Valley West MPP Kathleen Wynne.

Sunnybrook Heath Science Centre President and CEO Leo Steven joined Caplan, Wynne and representatives from Vanbots Construction Corporation to officially launch the construction. 

Vanbots will be responsible for building and financing the project, which is scheduled for completion in 2010.

Transforming new health care through the dedication of its more than 11,000 staff, physicians, volunteers and students, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre is committed to discovering new treatments, ensuring the health and safety of patients and teaching current and future health care leaders.

“I would like to thank our volunteers, fundraisers, hospital staff and the community for their generous donations and support of this project,” said Steven. “We are looking forward to our project's completion and to the expansion of services available for all members of our community.”

Infrastructure Ontario is working with Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre to redevelop the hospital, which will remain publicly owned, publicly controlled and publicly accountable.  Infrastructure Ontario is a Crown corporation dedicated to managing some of the province's larger and more complex infrastructure renewal projects - ensuring they are built on time and on budget. 

This project is guided by principles outlined in the Province's Building a Better Tomorrow framework, which ensures public ownership of core assets such as hospitals, schools, and water and wastewater facilities.  The Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre project is one of many infrastructure projects being upgraded and modernized under ReNew Ontario, the government's five-year, $30-billion plus public infrastructure investment plan.  

Visit www.infrastructureontario.ca for more information about this project.

Backgrounder

With more than 8,500 staff members, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre provides acute inpatient care, inpatient chronic care, palliative care and nursing care, as well as outpatient services.

Sunnybrook operates approximately 1,275 inpatient beds, which includes 533 veteran beds and 74 bassinets. 

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, M-Wing Shell and Perinatal and Gynaecology Project

The Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre M-Wing expansion project will create four additional floors above the existing clinical services wing. Two of the floors will be the new home of Sunnybrook's Perinatal and Gynaecology Program, including a state-of-the-art Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. 

Two of the floors will provide space for the Perinatal and Gynaecology Program, which will provide:

  • 68 beds, 
  • 48 bassinets 
  • for approximately 4,250 births per year.   

Proposed plans for the other two floors are still under review.

The project will expand Sunnybrook's capacity to provide care for some of the most critically-ill newborns and high-risk pregnancies in the province by integrating these services into the hospital's critical care system. The Perinatal and Gynaecology program currently handles around 4,000 births a year, about 25 per cent of which are high-risk pregnancies. The Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit cares for one in five of all babies born in Ontario weighing less than three pounds.

Contacts:

Amy Tang
Minister's Office
Public Infrastructure and Renewal 
416-325-4048

Jennifer Sclisizzi
Infrastructure Ontario
416-325-7409

Laura Bristow
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
416 480-4040

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