New expansion coming to Guelph General Hospital emergency department

Construction has officially kicked off for a new expansion heading to the emergency department at Guelph General Hospital.

The project will primarily focus on providing new emergency mental health and addictions services in the city and the surrounding communities.

It comes following a provincial investment of $21 million to support the first phase of the expansion, which will include the renovations for the additional 23,000 square feet of space necessary.

“Our government is protecting Ontario’s health care system and ensuring that more people in Guelph and across Wellington County can connect to convenient mental health and addictions care, when they need it most,” Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, said in a press statement.

Once completed, the hospital’s new mental health and addictions services unit will include:

• Expanded capacity in the Short Stay Assessment Unit from four to eight beds to monitor and treat more adult patients experiencing psychiatric emergencies.
• A new emergency follow-up service that will increase individual and group counselling services by 14 per cent to help more than 2,220 patients stabilize before being discharged and reduce re-admissions.
• A new walk-in patient intake zone.
• Additional ambulance capacity from two to three by building a new three-bay ambulance garage with a dedicated offload area, reducing offload wait times in the emergency department.
• A brand new reception area in the emergency department, including a new waiting room and triage area.

The latest move is also projected to free up an additional 12 per cent more space in the hospital’s existing emergency department. The hospital said that it will help connect more patients to the right level of emergency care at a faster rate.

“By investing in the relocation and expansion of Guelph General Hospital’s emergency mental health and addictions services, we are making it faster and easier for more people to access emergency care and mental health services they need faster and for years to come,” Minister Jones said.

The hospital has noted that people will continue to have 24/7 access to the emergency department throughout the course of the construction efforts. It said that, on average, more than 60,000 patients visit its emergency department each year, and it still expects those numbers to grow across Guelph-Wellington region.

As of now, construction on the project is expected to wrap up during the spring of 2026.