A top official helping to oversee the development of the new Windsor-Essex Acute Care Hospital expects the province to give approval for the next stage of the project sometime this spring.
Brandon Bailey, Vice President of Redevelopment at Windsor Regional Hospital, says in the next couple of months, they expect approval of the Stage 1.3 planning submission to the Ontario Ministry of Health, first made in April 2023.
A similar submission was also submitted this past December for the Ouellette Campus of the hospital.
The submissions are high-level designs that show the overcall scope and services that would be at the new facility, and at the Ouellette Campus on a long-term basis.
Bailey says once approval is given, they can move to the next stage and get into the 'meat and potatoes' of the planning and design process.
It's expected it will take a year to develop the documents for the next stage of the project, followed by the tendering process for the construction sometime in early 2025.
Construction would then begin in the summer of 2026, with the project's completion expected by 2030.
Bailey says public consultation will be important during the next stage of the design and planning process.
"No one person has the complete perspective that you need to design a facility like this," he says. "Everyone brings a unique angle, a unique lens, including the patient experience. That's why we engage heavily with our PFAC, our Patient Family Advisory Committee, and the community to make sure we have their perspective at the table."
The new hospital will be built on a piece of land at County Rd. 42 and the 9th Concession, not far from Windsor Airport.