Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare has launched their "Imagine Campaign" to transform their campus with a new rehabilitation centre.
The hospital announced on Wednesday that the Toldo Foundation has donated $1.5-million, and that the expansion will be named the Toldo Outpatient Rehabilitation Centre.
The $8.3-million addition to Hotel-Dieu will include a range of new features such as new exercise equipment, a walking track, a simulated kitchen to rebuild confidence in a home setting, simulated bathrooms, private consultation and therapy rooms, and a direct patient drop off area.
The current facility within the hospital supports over 15,000 patient visits yearly for care by physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech language pathologists and more.
Bill Marra, President and CEO of Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare, says this new space is needed.
"It's really a game changing opportunity for people who have come through perhaps catastrophic events who have been hospitalized due to injuries, whether it be an amputation, a brain injury, or a spinal cord injury, it's a very important rehab centre for the Windsor-Essex region. And we've been working out of some very dated, challenging facilities for years, so what we've done is we created a much more accessible environment."
He says it's a very accessible environment.
"Easy to get to, as soon as you walk in the door, we're going to provide an indoor walking track as well, new clinical rooms, and a far more incredibly bright facility to introduce some new equipment as well. So, it's improving healthcare."
Marra says the work is expected to be completed by the fall.
"What's really unique about this opportunity is because we're building a new space, and not refurbishing the old space, they're will be very minimal patient disruption. So once the new space is built we're going to close down our existing program for a handful of days, move the equipment in, move the new equipment in, and really be fired up likely in the month of October."
Danielle Campo McLeod, Windsor Paralympic champion and National Ambassador for Muscular Dystrophy Canada, was in attendance at the event to speak to her personal recovery journey at Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare.
Campo McLeod was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and spent three weeks as an inpatient, and then was an outpatient for over a year.
She says she's really excited for this expansion.
"Being a former patient of the inpatient and outpatient services, it's just so incredible for our community to finally be able to kick this off, and launch this amazing campaign."
She says the Windsor-Essex community is so giving.
"To have a state-of-the-art facility where people are going to be able to come, separate from the inpatient hospital, just a completely different entrance, a completely different beautiful location, where people can just be assisted in their healing."
Construction of the expansion is anticipated to be completed in the fall of 2025, with the hopes of opening the doors in October.
Just over $3-million of the $8.3-million has been raised, with the Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare Foundation looking for additional community donations.
Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare is located on Prince Road and is a speciality hospital offering rehab, adult mental health, and children's mental health services.