More than five years after the site for a new regional acute care hospital was chosen, Windsor Regional Hospital is officially taking ownership of the 60-acre property.
The announcement was made last week, following a cheque presentation in support of the new hospital, from well-known local farmer Frank Lafferty.
Under the purchase agreement, land owners will transfer 60 acres to Windsor Regional Hospital, at a price of $100,000/acre or $6 million as awarded through the detailed procurement process.
The purchase of sale agreement originally signed in 2015 finally closed this month after conditions including proper zoning of the site and ministry approval of the project, were met.
This development puts the future Windsor-Essex Hospitals System on solid ground,” said David Musyj, president and CEO of Windsor Regional Hospital.
“Today, we are taking a giant step toward a world-class hospital system for our region.”
The site was selected in 2015 by a volunteer committee with a clearly defined process outlined in a Request for Proposals. The process was monitored by a fairness advisor and has since been used as a model in other regions looking to select a site for a new hospital.
With 60-acres, the property includes space for the hospital to develop and grow to meet the region’s needs and will tie into the Transit Windsor bus system, with service to the new hospital when it opens.
The new single-site acute care hospital will replace the two existing outdated acute care campuses. It will include a helipad so patients can be transported by helicopter to and from the site, ample parking for patients, visitor, and staff, at least 80% single-patient rooms to increase patient privacy and decrease the threat of infection and allow for a more comfortable stay for patients and families.
It is part of a system transformation that includes a Centre of Mental Health Excellence at HDGH’s Tayfour Campus.
“Today’s announcement has been literally years in the making,” said Dave Cooke, co-chair of the program and services steering committee. “Now that we have a site, we are ready to begin work on the next stages of planning so we can get shovels in the ground for a state-of-the-art acute care hospital.”
Premier Doug Ford said a new hospital for Windsor-Essex was his number one priority. The next steps of the planning process will take approximately 18 months to complete and include a detailed description of the programs to be delivered, the staffing, equipment and space required, and preliminary designs.
