Vaughan’s new hospital has begun planning for full opening, but no official date set

Since early February, Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital has only admitted COVID-19 patients

Yorkregion.com
March 10, 2021
Dina Al-Shibeeb

No date is set yet but Vaughan’s new hospital has begun planning for its full-service opening when it will finally start accepting non-COVID-19 patients and open the doors to its emergency department, Mackenzie Health told Yorkregion.com.

In early February, the Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital made headlines when it opened after years of construction and fundraising. However, the new hospital only admitted COVID-19 patients to reduce pressures on other Greater Toronto Area hospitals with its 35 intensive care unit beds and 150 general internal medicine beds earmarked for COVID-19 patients.

“In the first three weeks, more than 90 patients were transferred to Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital from hospitals across the GTA to help alleviate capacity pressures,” Mackenzie Health said.

“Once the health-care system has stabilized, we look forward to fully opening Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital the way we intended,” Mackenzie Health said, describing how the COVID-19 “landscape was grim” in early January.

“To help paint the picture, COVID-19 cases were rising at an alarming rate and hospitals were reaching capacity. ICUs were estimated to run out of critical care beds by the end of January,” it added.

“Planning for the full opening is currently underway. Until then, the emergency department at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital will remain closed and the emergency department at Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital remains open to serve our community as it always has.”

The decision to only cater for COVID-19 patients was made when both Mackenzie Health and the provincial government worked together to “provide a unique system solution to directly address the acute and critical care surge by opening only critical care and general internal medicine beds at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital.”