Hospitals in KW

[neonjoe]

With the location we can only hope that it becomes a teaching hospital or research hospital which would allow UW to start offering programs for physicians.

Isn't it the reverse - the University would need a Faculty of Medicine if it were to become a teaching hospital?

Correct but this could be one piece in the puzzle to lead towards it. Currently anything related to medicine at UW is in partnership with McMaster.

[ac3r]

An interesting new consideration WRHN is looking at regarding transit: autonomous bus shuttles from the LRT to the hospital.

This will likely just be for staff, but it shows the consideration for public transportation as this has been an issue raised through the internal feedback at WRHN. This means GRT can analyze passenger trip data over the years and expand new bus routes or LRT routes in the future. Since WRHN is future proofing this hospital for at least the next half century plus, transit will be taken into consideration and that will certainly influence decision making at the regional level.

Also, while architectural plans haven't been fully released to the public as of yet, the hospital campus is to be at the very least 12 floors or potentially more (as it is still very much in the design stages). Due to it having a helicopter pad, there is expectation that the hospital can/will serve as a significantly more important major regional trauma centre to handle population growth closer to Waterloo Region, resulting in an even larger hospital design by the time all the phases are done and under construction. It'll really depend on funding.

[nms]

Should Waterloo region start saving money now to build and upgrade hospitals? Wilmot's mayor thinks so (CBC)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener...-9.7188376

A new hospital is expected to be built in Waterloo in the next decade and the region needs to start financially planning for expected funding requests to support it, Wilmot Mayor Natasha Salonen says.

She brought forward a motion to Tuesday's administration and finance committee that asks regional staff to prepare information for the 2027 budget deliberations that could see a 0.5 per cent levy added to property taxes specifically for hospitals.

[kps]

An interesting new consideration WRHN is looking at regarding transit: autonomous bus shuttles from the LRT to the hospital.

MONORAIL!

[KevinL]

There's also a question of when or if the hydro corridor there gets buried - it would be expensive but improve both the aesthetics and the ability to build more densely.

[panamaniac]

Should Waterloo region start saving money now to build and upgrade hospitals? Wilmot's mayor thinks so (CBC)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener...-9.7188376

A new hospital is expected to be built in Waterloo in the next decade and the region needs to start financially planning for expected funding requests to support it, Wilmot Mayor Natasha Salonen says.

She brought forward a motion to Tuesday's administration and finance committee that asks regional staff to prepare information for the 2027 budget deliberations that could see a 0.5 per cent levy added to property taxes specifically for hospitals.

Too soon?  I would have said that the decision to start building funding is already overdue.

[ijmorlan]

An interesting new consideration WRHN is looking at regarding transit: autonomous bus shuttles from the LRT to the hospital.

This will likely just be for staff, but it shows the consideration for public transportation as this has been an issue raised through the internal feedback at WRHN. This means GRT can analyze passenger trip data over the years and expand new bus routes or LRT routes in the future. Since WRHN is future proofing this hospital for at least the next half century plus, transit will be taken into consideration and that will certainly influence decision making at the regional level.

Also, while architectural plans haven't been fully released to the public as of yet, the hospital campus is to be at the very least 12 floors or potentially more (as it is still very much in the design stages). Due to it having a helicopter pad, there is expectation that the hospital can/will serve as a significantly more important major regional trauma centre to handle population growth closer to Waterloo Region, resulting in an even larger hospital design by the time all the phases are done and under construction. It'll really depend on funding.

Thanks for this. I definitely approve of going tall. Do you know if the helicopter pad would be on the roof?

All I know about hospital roof pads is that’s how it was in ER.

[ac3r]

Thanks for this. I definitely approve of going tall. Do you know if the helicopter pad would be on the roof?

All I know about hospital roof pads is that’s how it was in ER.

Yep, it'll be on the roof of the northish side of the 12 floor acute care building with a specialized elevator. However, that means it'll be one of the last things they complete since they aren't expecting that to be built for a long time. 2032 is the expected date of the clinical support building and I believe the parking garage.

When the main hospital building is completed is anyone's guess. I know the WRHN planning team is expecting delays due to the nature of these types of projects. Which is a shame since the entire project should have been done by 2032 given the population growth.

Note if you go to the top post on page 25, there's a link to the hospital website that offers a masterplan that shows you the layout. Unfortunately I am unable to share any of the architectural plans or renderings yet, but they should be out eventually.

[ijmorlan]

Note if you go to the top post on page 25, there's a link to the hospital website that offers a masterplan that shows you the layout. Unfortunately I am unable to share any of the architectural plans or renderings yet, but they should be out eventually.

Thanks very much for all the information. Looking forward to more details as they become publicly available.