Substantial Completion reached for Cortelucci Vaughan Hospital

RenewCanada.ca
Sept. 22, 2020

Infrastructure Ontario (IO) and Mackenzie Health announced last month that the construction of the new hospital in Vaughan, Ontario, the Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital (known until recently as the “Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital”), has reached substantial completion.

Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital is part of Mackenzie Health, a regional health care provider serving Vaughan, Richmond Hill and beyond that also includes Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital and a network of community-based services.

“Substantial completion of Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital is a remarkable achievement and a reflection of the incredible work and dedication of our team and partners in moving us toward our two-hospital future,” said Mackenzie Health President and CEO Altaf Stationwala. “Our vision to increase access to safe, quality care for residents across southwest York Region will soon become a reality.”

With the addition of Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital, Mackenzie Health will offer full-service emergency departments and medicine and surgery programs at two hospitals to help alleviate the ever-growing pressure on resources in the health system. Some specialized care programs and services will be based at only one of the two hospitals -- such as the Woman and Child program at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital and the inpatient Rehabilitation and Complex Continuing Care programs at Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital.

“I want to congratulate the team at Mackenzie Health for reaching substantial completion of the new Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “This significant milestone means we are another step closer to opening the new state-of-the-art hospital early next year. Once complete, the hospital will directly help build more capacity in the health care system, shorten wait times and end hallway health care across York Region.”

Construction on Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital broke ground in October 2016. The project was delivered by Plenary Health, along with partners PCL Constructors Canada Inc., Stantec, and Johnson Controls. The project reached substantial completion on August 26.

“On behalf of the Plenary Health team we are thrilled to hand the site over to Mackenzie Health so they can transform this smart building into a hospital,” said Kelly Wallace, Vice President and District Manager, PCL Constructors Canada Inc. “The passionate pursuit of a shared vision motivated us to overcome any challenge, and I’d like to commend over 1,000 women and men whose commitment to safety enabled us to complete this hospital for the community during a global pandemic, with over three million hours worked without a lost time injury.”

With construction substantially complete on Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital, Mackenzie Health teams will begin the enormous task of turning the building into a fully functional hospital so that it can safely open its doors to patients. This includes installing and testing thousands of pieces of equipment, training more than 3,000 staff across both sites, and developing and simulating a number of mock patient scenarios.

“In just a few short months’ time, the City of Vaughan will have its first hospital, and what a hospital it will be! Our residents will have access to Canada’s first smart hospital with a team of expert nurses and physicians providing the ultimate in care,” said Maurizio Bevilacqua, Mayor of Vaughan and Chair of the Mackenzie Health Foundation’s Ultimate fundraising campaign. “I know that the giving spirit of our community will inspire us all as we join together on the last leg of this journey towards opening day.”

To date, the provincial government has invested $1.3 billion for construction of the project. An additional $178 million has been raised from the community to date as part of Mackenzie Health Foundation’s $250 million Ultimate campaign.

The Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital will be the first hospital for the city of Vaughan, and the first new hospital for York Region in 30 years. The Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital will be the first “smart” hospital in Canada.

With the achievement of this major milestone, Mackenzie Health will have full access to the new space to begin preparing for occupancy. The hospital is expected to start providing patient care services in the new facility in early 2021.