Construction has officially begun on the multi-billion dollar Fancsy Family Hospital in Windsor.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held on Thursday with Premier Doug Ford, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Sylvia Jones, Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens, Essex County Warden Hilda MacDonald, and others on hand.
Supported by the Ontario government’s investment of over $202 million, the new hospital will add space for more than 100 additional hospital beds.
A building permit has been obtained, and hydro has been brought to the site in preparation for this work.
Construction on Phase 1 will take three-years to complete and will begin in the northwest corner of the property, it will then move east to Phase 2, then south to Phase 3.
Windsor Regional Hospital Vice-President of Redevelopment Brandon Bailey says a lot of feedback has gone into the planning process. “The structure of this contract is that we work with our users, our patient volunteers, a lot of community members, out physicians to develop a set of rules that will inform our illustrated schematic design and that is what you’re seeing in those renderings. It sets the rule books for what the ultimate design build team will construct too,” he said.
Bailey adds they are working with design teams from across Canada.
“Everyone is so generous with the information they’ve experienced on their projects, their lessons learned and every week we are taking advantage of that, meeting routinely to make sure no one is making the same mistake twice in the province and trying to make every hospital a little bit better than the last.”
Bailey says the public will notice a lot of activity at the site. “What that will look like is about four weeks of mobilizations, so they’ll start with trailers, fencing, coordinating the logistics and gates and access in place and will immediately follow excavation and we will start building foundations, below grade plumbing and go on from there.”
Phase 1 involves the construction of a three-storey Education and Administrative Centre and simulation centre, a 700-vehicle parking garage, and other site infrastructure. EllisDon Construction was selected as the construction manager for this phase, and construction is expected to begin in mid-2026.
Phase 2 is the largest part of the project, involving the construction of a five-storey Diagnostic and Treatment Block that will include Emergency and Trauma Services, Regional Cancer Services, Surgical Services, and Women’s and Children’s Services along with advanced diagnostics and the central utility plant.
Phase 3, which will focus on the Inpatient Tower, a nine-storey building that will house the majority of the hospital’s inpatient beds, the In-Centre Dialysis Unit, and essential support services.