Vaughan Plans New Healthcare Precinct Around Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital
Urbantoronto.ca
November 6, 2019
Jack Landau
Vaughan used to call itself 'The City Above Toronto'. It was mocked for that, but since the subway was extended to the city north of Steeles, projects clustering around the new subway terminus have quickly begun to create a new mixed-use, high-density downtown, and are giving Vaughan a new urban identity. Now, a few kilometres to the north of what has been dubbed the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre, and around where the $1.8 billion Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital will open in late 2020, another district plan will create a healthcare and innovation district for the growing city.
We spoke with Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua recently, just before a memorandum of understanding (MOU) agreement was signed by the City of Vaughan, York University, Mackenzie Health, and ventureLAB to identify opportunities to maximize the best use of the 82 acres of the Vaughan Healthcare Centre Precinct lands at Major Mackenzie Drive and Jane Street where the Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital is located. In the Mayor's words, the feasibility study that comes from the MOU "puts the planned framework into action to begin the process of finding the best land use and economic development strategy for the city."
Results of the study will be used to form a 10-year roadmap for the new Healthcare Precinct, creating what Mayor Bevilacqua calls a "world-class health experience" that will "include a new space for ventureLAB to expand and create another regional innovation space in Vaughan" and “a potential new university academic health sciences development for York U, which may include administrative office facilities, classrooms, research facilities, student housing, a library, and other university facilities.” The Mayor took an active role in facilitating collaboration among the stakeholders, calling the MOU agreement and feasibility study "very positive steps I thought it was important as Mayor of the city to bring everybody together and build upon each others' strengths.”
The precinct is expected to serve a similar role in Vaughan and with its local educational institutions as Hospital Row serves in Toronto, where healthcare, education, and innovation uses all meet in a multi-disciplinary district. With 40 of the 82 acres leased to Mackenzie Health for 99 years, Mayor Bevilacqua frames the goal of the study thusly; “how do you maximize the output of knowledge and innovation?”
The City wants to attract researchers, educators, and investors to the new precinct, Mayor Bevilacqua stating they are considering “initiatives that connect startup-scale companies with small and medium-scale to large local Vaughan-based multinational enterprises, giving us greater collaboration opportunity at Mackenzie Health.” While exactly what the tax incentives will be is yet to be determined, Mayor Bevilacqua is confident that the collaborative and educational opportunities alone will serve as a primary incentive; “It’s very important for companies and institutions who want to grow and be part of something that is truly exciting.”
Meanwhile, construction of the Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital is roughly one year away from completion, giving the precinct its first high-tech building to create a foothold for future investment. Recent construction images show that the hospital’s 11-storey superstructure is complete, as cladding progress now hints at the building’s exterior design by Stantec and Zeidler Partnership Architects.
In the meantime, the installation of complex digital infrastructure progresses as the clock ticks down to the facility's opening next year. Once complete, Mackenzie Vaughan will serve as the first “smart hospital” in Canada and the first new hospital to be built in York Region in the last 50 years. With its opening, Mayor Bevilacqua tells us that 1,800 new jobs will be created immediately. The precinct's feasibility study is expected to conclude in late 2020, approximately concurrent with the new hospital's opening.
