St. Mary’s General and Grand River Hospitals to provide update on future of health care

The heads of St. Mary’s General Hospital and Grand River Hospital will be providing an update to all local councils on the future of health care on Friday.

Both hospitals note discussions are still ongoing on where the hospital will be located, but are expected to announce a selected site in a few months. Back in May, both hospitals confirmed it was down to two sites.

The region is set to have its population grow to 923,000 people by 2051, both hospitals have teamed up on a number of initiatives. Some of the biggest needs include increased capacity, renewing existing infrastructure and working on health equity.

Over the last year, the two hospitals have seen the addition of over 200 permanent beds and a growth in clinical, diagnostic imaging and laboratory services.

In April, both hospital boards announced that the two hospitals would be merging, with the formal merger expected by spring 2025. Grand River Hospital’s Ron Gagnon said there are many advantages to the merger.

“We already share a hospital information system to share information about patients and a number of departments with integrated leadership at a minimum and integrated services,” said Gagnon.

A community townhall was held on June 18 to get feedback from the community and to provide an update on the merger.

St. Mary’s General Hospital will also be looking to have community engagement on the future of their current site in the fall

The all council meeting is set to begin at 2 p.m.