CaDCR staff writer
The Manitoba government is launching a six-year, $1.5-billion rebuild of Health Sciences Centre (HSC) Winnipeg’s adult bed towers and upgrades to the Bannatyne campus. It is the largest health capital investment in Manitoba’s history, and includes expanded and modernized inpatient areas and a concentrated University of Manitoba health faculty program at the province’s largest teaching hospital.
Work can start immediately, thanks to the HSC Foundation’s acquisition of the Manitoba Clinic building, Premier Heather Stefanson and Health Minister Audrey Gordon said in a statement.
“Our government is proud to announce this historic investment to heal our health-care system,” said Stefanson. “This $1.5-billion project will rebuild the core of what today is HSC Winnipeg. HSC is Manitoba’s hospital, home to specialized services that Manitoba families rely on.
“We are also making a significant investment in the education of our province’s future health-care providers–helping address the health-care staffing needs of tomorrow.”
The new building, expected to be at least 10 storeys, will replace existing obsolete facilities, parts of which date back to 1897, and others that were built in 1911, 1917, 1950, 1960, and 1968 and it will:
- create approximately 240 new private patient rooms, each built to meet current infection prevention and control guidelines;
- enable the use of general hospital acute rooms as private rooms;
- establish campus space for new, complex procedural and diagnostic imaging services;
- allow for expansion of the adult emergency department and associated clinic spaces to support patient treatment and flow; and
- address clinical capacity needs, including space to expand critical care units in the future if needed.
HSC Winnipeg is the hub of Manitoba’s health-care system and the adult bed towers are the core of the hospital.
“This is a historic day for HSC Winnipeg and for the thousands of families across Manitoba who count on the specialized care it provides every day,” said Jonathon Lyon, president and CEO, Health Sciences Centre Foundation. “We are pleased our acquisition of the Manitoba Clinic building can serve as a catalyst for a $1.5-billion investment in health-care services that touch every corner of the province.”
The 240 new private patient rooms will be a pillar of Manitoba’s health-care system. Work on the project will begin immediately, starting with some programs moving to a new, temporary location at the Manitoba Clinic building, so demolition and construction can start, thanks to the building being acquired by the HSC Foundation, the premier noted.
A long-term goal of the University of Manitoba is to concentrate health sciences faculties onto the Bannatyne campus to increase the education, learning and research capacity of students and staff. In preparation for these moves and to accommodate the university’s planned expansion of medical training seats, this investment includes $72 million in the first stage to expand the Rady faculty of health sciences infrastructure to support growing campus needs.
“When you improve HSC Winnipeg, you are improving a foundational piece of our health-care system. This project will have a tremendous positive impact on Manitoba, and the work is starting today, five years sooner, thanks to the HSC Foundation’s acquisition of the Manitoba Clinic,” said Gordon. “We are fighting to heal health care and I want to commend the HSC Foundation for the initiative it has taken to ensure we can get started today.”
The project is expected to transform every critical aspect of HSC Winnipeg.
“Over time, we will be able to replace old patient facilities and add capacity for improved medical care and more surgery capacity,” said Dr. Perry Gray, provincial lead, medical specialist services and chief medical officer, Shared Health. “We will expand our emergency room services and operating room capacity.
“And all of this will be located in state-of-the-art facilities, built to the latest, modern standards so we can continue providing the very best care for HSC Winnipeg patients and their families well into the future.”
HSC Winnipeg is the biggest and busiest hospital in Manitoba. For more information on Health Science Centre Winnipeg, visit www.hsc.mb.ca/.
