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Building the Best: Stevenson Receives Letter from Capital Branch Acknowledging Receipt of Stage 1 Submission

ALLISTON – July 28, 2015 – On July 21st, the Health Capital Investment Branch (Capital Branch) of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care in a written letter acknowledged receipt of Stevenson Memorial Hospital’s Stage 1 Capital submission.  In the letter Capital Branch acknowledges the “completeness” of the 600 page submission and announced it had commenced its review.  Feedback from the Capital Branch is expected by Fall 2015.  The letter further indicates acknowledgement of Stevenson’s Stage 1 submission by the Central Local Health Integration Network (LHIN).

The timely acknowledgement and review of Stevenson’s submission by Capital Branch and the LHIN is a significant development, in that it shows this important stage of redevelopment is on track for potential endorsement this Fall. 

“While we are optimistic of receiving a favourable endorsement from the Ministry to proceed to Stage 2 in our redevelopment process, we need to ensure this community is fully engaged,” says Dr. Jody Levac, President & CEO.  I would urge all members of the Stevenson community to contact their local MPP, Jim Wilson’s office and sign a petition of support to demonstrate to this government how important investing in a revitalized hospital is for our future. “

The need for a revitalized facility at Stevenson is readily apparent in that, the current building was constructed in 1964 with an Emergency Department (ED) designed to handle no more than 7,000 visits per year; yet in 2014-15 Stevenson accommodated 33,424 ED visits.  The catchment area for Stevenson Memorial is expected to surpass 90,000 from the current 55,000 by 2031.  Stevenson’s current ranking of 2nd in the province out of 74 medium to high volume hospitals for ED wait times cannot be sustained over the long term unless the hospital is redeveloped and revitalized to meet the needs of the community in the 21st century. 

Key areas of focus for the redevelopment include a new ED, OR facilities, Diagnostic Imagining department, and Lab.  A new revitalized Stevenson Memorial Hospital with modern infrastructure and services is budgeted at $136,261,200, with a local share portion of $23,309,700.  The Stevenson Memorial Hospital Foundation is committed to raising the local share.  There has been an outpouring of support amongst community stakeholder groups for Stevenson’s redevelopment project. 

Prior to the Stage 1 submission, Stevenson had been active in engaging with key community stakeholders, fostering support and keeping them well informed of the redevelopment process.  Moving forward, Stevenson Memorial will become more active with community and stakeholder engagements to ensure the momentum of support for a revitalized hospital remains strong. 

A petition of support for Steven Memorials redevelopment can be found at MPP Jim Wilson’s website at http://www.jimwilsonmpp.com/services/petitions