‘We are so fortunate’: Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital to fully open June 6

New $1.7-billion hospital boasts woman and child, inpatient mental health and inpatient integrate stroke programs

Yorkregion.com
June 4, 2021
Laura Broadley

A major project several years in the making is finally complete.

The Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital will be opening its doors as a full-service hospital June 6.

The hospital, located at 3200 Major MacKenzie Dr. W., opened in February exclusively to support Ontario’s COVID-19 pandemic response. The hospital cared for the highest proportion of COVID-19 patients in the province, with 514 patients transferred to date.

The Woman and Child, Inpatient Mental Health and Inpatient Integrated Stroke programs, the emergency department and other core services will open to the community on June 6.

The emergency department at the hospital will remain closed until 10 a.m. on June 6. The emergency department is 37,000 square feet and will offer state-of-the-art equipment and technology.

Vaughan Ward 1 Coun. Marilyn Iafrate said the new hospital will bring a “level playing field” to the community in terms of hospital services compared to other places in Toronto and the GTA.

The specialized care available to residents will allow patients to get the care they need close to home, Iafrate added.

“I am so happy. I am so fulfilled,” she said. “We have shown that we made it happen.”

The Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital cost $1.7 billion but started as an idea in 2003 when Vaughan council created a task force to study how the city could get a hospital. The Vaughan Health Care Foundation was established in 2004 to raise money from the community in support of a new hospital.

The 87 acres of land for the hospital was purchased in 2009, which the city contributed $80 million to secure.

York Central Hospital was given the green light by the province to build the hospital in 2011.

In 2012, the Mackenzie Health Foundation was formed to raise money for the rebranded Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital and the future Vaughan hospital.

Early work on the construction of the hospital began in 2014.

“Many King residents will be using the new Vaughan hospital,” said King Township Mayor Steve Pellegrini. “It is a state-of-the-art, magnificent facility. We are so fortunate.”

King citizens have contributed financially to the project, Pellegrini added.