Doug Ford repeats vow to end ‘hallway health care’

Thestar.com
October 12, 2018
Rob Ferguson

Premier Doug Ford used the ceremonial groundbreaking for a new $1.2-billion rehab hospital in Toronto to repeat his election promise that “hallway health care is coming to an end in this province.”

The vow came Thursday morning at West Park Healthcare Centre, overlooking the Humber River valley near Jane and Eglinton, where planning and development of a new main building began almost a decade ago under the previous Liberal government.

An artist’s rendition of the central plaza at the new West Park Healthcare Centre, which will be completed in 2023.

Construction will not be complete until 2023, a year after the next provincial election.

“We want to invest money where it matters most,” said Ford, who has appointed retired Humber River Regional Hospital chief executive Rueben Devlin, a former orthopedic surgeon and Progressive Conservative Party president, to lead the effort to ease hospital overcrowding that results in patients being treated in hallways. Devlin is being paid $348,000 annually.

A new, six-storey hospital will replace the existing main buildings --which are to be torn down --and hold 314 beds for patients recovering from serious illnesses and injuries, an increase of 20 per cent. There will be an outdoor terrace on every floor so patients can more easily get fresh air.

Infrastructure Ontario awarded the contract to design, build, finance and maintain the new hospital to Ellis Don.

The groundbreaking ceremony marks a “significant milestone” in the project, said Infrastructure Minister Monte McNaughton, who acknowledged the area’s former Liberal MPP, Laura Albanese, for her efforts to “champion” the new hospital at Queen’s Park.

The hospital grounds will also get a new entrance and space for outpatient services increased to serve double the current volume of patients with demand expected to increase dramatically in the coming decades.

Fundraisers for the hospital foundation are seeking $80 million in donations from the public to help defray the costs of the new building.