Oakville’s hospital could get 123 new beds and three new operating rooms if the province approves an expansion proposal from Halton Healthcare.
Expanding the hospital would provide a quick and relatively inexpensive way to add to Ontario’s supply of hospital beds.
That’s the argument made in an Aug. 2 town document publicly shared by Mayor Rob Burton earlier this month.
Expanding Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH) would “deliver beds four times faster and for four times less cost than the same number of beds through a conventional hospital project,” argues the paper.
The $124 million expansion project could begin almost immediately and be completed within about one year, thanks to a design that planned for a growing population.
“The Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH) was designed and built with shelled-in space to provide the flexibility of future growth,” said a statement from Halton Healthcare. “The spaces are strategically situated throughout the hospital to allow for expansion of high growth areas within the hospital’s current footprint so that construction can occur while minimizing disruption to ongoing hospital operations.”
Opened in 2015, OTMH currently runs 10 operating rooms and has capacity for 457 patients.
An expansion would help address the region’s hospital capacity crisis that was exacerbated by the pandemic, argues the town document.
The Halton Healthcare proposal is under review, confirmed a statement from Ontario’s Ministry of Health.
The ministry was vague in response to a question about potential costs to the local community.
“In accordance with the ministry’s capital planning process, ministry cost sharing and local share responsibility of the hospital are to be determined once a capital project is approved,” it said.
The Oakville hospital, built at Dundas Street and Third Line to replace an undersized and aging downtown building, cost $2.7 billion to construct.
The town contributed $130 million as a local share, while a $60 million fundraising campaign helped purchase essential medical equipment.