An important milestone for the Windsor-Essex acute care hospital project.
Speaking on AM800's The Morning Drive, Windsor Regional Hospital President and CEO David Musyj says Stage 1.3 (formerly Stage 2) in the planning process has been submitted to the Ministry of Health.
He says the latest submission was developed over the past 16 months and includes a functional program, a set of block diagrams, and a campus plan.
Musyj says it's a pretty exciting time in the process.
"It is a monumental step in the process and we're looking at now May 1, 2023, we go to RFP in 2025 and shovel in the ground in 2026," says Musyj. "People say, oh it's 2026, it's going to move fast."
He says the project will include a simulation training centre and auditorium, Indigenous healing space and a cafeteria with access to outdoor seating.
"Some of the highlights is right now what's being proposed is a nine storey in patient unit with a five storey diagnostic and treatment blocks," he says. "So that's like diagnostic imaging and outpatient services. It has capacity for 100 per cent private rooms."
Musyj says the project also includes plans for 'future growth.'
"We do have shelled-in space so that is space that just that it's shelled-in for future growth so we have that projected in there," says Musyj. "We have to work with the ministry to get that approved."
The latest submission included 1,100 pages of material and also included an updated cost estimate.
The submission was developed by hospital experts, 40 user groups, the community, all First Nation communities represented by the London District Chiefs Council and the province.
The submission is the first of three planning stages outlined in the Ministry of Health’s Capital Planning and Policy Manual.