Ontario Construction News staff writer
The new Windsor/Essex Acute Care Hospital will be named The Fancsy Family Hospital, following a transformative $40-million estate gift from the late John Thomas Fancsy. The announcement was made today at the hospital site, with members of the Fancsy family, Premier Doug Ford, Minister of Health Sylvia Jones, local officials, community leaders, and John’s two Labradors in attendance.
The gift is the largest ever received by the Windsor Regional Hospital Foundation, the largest publicly known donation in Windsor-Essex, and ranks among the most generous bequests to a single organization in Canada.
“John’s legacy gift is an extraordinary act of generosity,” said Karen Riddell, acting president and CEO of Windsor Regional Hospital. “We are immensely grateful and deeply honoured that the new hospital will bear the Fancsy family’s name.”
John Fancsy, a Windsor-born engineer and University of Windsor alumnus, joined his family business after earning degrees in mathematics from the University of Guelph and engineering from the University of Windsor. Alongside his brother Stephen, he co-founded Viewpointe Estate Winery in Harrow, helping establish Essex County as a destination for wine enthusiasts.
The Fancsy family has deep roots in Windsor-Essex. John’s grandfather co-founded major auto parts manufacturing companies that employed thousands locally, and his mother, Antoinette (née Goyeau), studied nursing and worked at Hôtel-Dieu Hospital, now part of Windsor Regional Hospital. John and his siblings credit their parents with instilling a tradition of quiet generosity, which John continued through his estate gift.
The hospital construction project is being managed under the Planning, Design, and Conformance (PDC) team led by Stantec. Stantec is responsible for block schematics, indicative design phases, tendering, and construction oversight.
The full-scale construction of the 2-million-sq. ft. structure is expected to begin in 2026. Phase One, which includes a parking garage, education and administrative building, and site infrastructure, is currently in the RFP stage. The project is expected to create hundreds of local construction jobs while incorporating modern healthcare design, sustainability features, and integrated community health services.
The Fancsy Family Hospital will benefit from the gift alongside provincial funding. While hospital construction is primarily funded by the province, local contributions cover 10% of construction costs and 100% of furniture, fixtures, equipment, parking, and shell space.
The donation, combined with city and county contributions, helps close that funding gap.
“This historic gift brings Windsor’s new state-of-the-art hospital one step closer to fruition,” said Minister of Health Sylvia Jones. “With John’s generosity, The Fancsy Family Hospital will provide world-class care to patients and families for generations.”
For more information on the hospital project, visit wrh.on.ca/TogetherWeBuild.
