A major milestone in the construction of the multi-billion-dollar Fancsy Family Hospital in Windsor-Essex.
Infrastructure Ontario, in partnership with Windsor Regional Hospital and the Ministry of Health, has issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to prequalify construction teams that will compete to design, build, finance, and maintain Phase 2 of the hospital construction.
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, Women's and Children's Services along with advanced diagnostics and the central utility plant.
Vice President of Redevelopment at Windsor Regional Hospital, Brandon Bailey, says those who make the shortlist to deliver on a project of this size will then be invited to respond to a Request for Proposals for a design competition.
"That process takes approximately a year to identify the preferred proponent," he says. "While they're doing that design competition, they're furthering the detailed design of the drawings so that once the contract is awarded, they can move to construction quickly. So, I suspect we're looking closer to the end of 2027 before breaking ground on the next component."
Construction of the multi-billion-dollar hospital is being split into three phases.
Bailey says the phased approach is to ensure good value for money while making sure that trades are available for each component.
"There was a risk that we were aware of that trying to accomplish the construction of this project at once through one contract led to the potential risk of not having any suitors in the market that are available to deliver a project of that magnitude," he says.
An RFQ will be released later for 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.
Bailey says they expect at peak construction to have over 1,200 contractors on site.
"We're trying to ease the market. We want to have as much local involvement in this project as possible. By staggering the construction slightly by only a couple of years, we'll be able to ensure there will be maximum participation from our labour force," he says.
Bailey adds that an additional benefit to this staggered approach is that some phases of the hospital could be completed at the same time, allowing for a 'soft opening' before the entire project is complete.
Once ground is broken on Phase 1 in the northwest corner of the site at County Road 42 and the 9th Concession, not far from Windsor Airport, development will continue east and south until it's complete.
The estimated cost of the hospital project is not being released as it moves toward the bidding phase, but it's expected to be in the billions.
Once complete, the site will have 50 per cent more space than the current two hospital sites - the Ouellette Campus and the Met Campus - combined.