[Automation Gallery]

Gee Toronto is on fire, not only are they building tons of condo towers and office bldgs, but court houses, hospitals, educational bldgs. transportation hubs etc...holy moly, in my lifetime i haven't seen this much going on at once

 

[Edward Skira]

Gee Toronto is on fire, not only are they building tons of condo towers and office bldgs, but court houses, hospitals, educational bldgs. transportation hubs etc...holy moly, in my lifetime i haven't seen this much going on at once

The massive growth downtown is impacting institutional usage in a big way. Hospitals are having a hard time keeping up with the increased demand. Will see more of this.

 

[W. K. Lis]

Instead of merging hospitals into one site, the province should be expanding the existing ones. Not everyone can drive, if they will still have a driver's license after 80, to the hospital for appointments.

 

[Amare]

Instead of merging hospitals into one site, the province should be expanding the existing ones. Not everyone can drive, if they will still have a driver's license after 80, to the hospital for appointments.

We're seeing the same thing happen with schools merging into one site as well, and I agree I don't think it's a good trend. It simply puts even more stress on the infrastructure in that given area, and if things were spaced out it would reduce congestion and relieve some pressures.

 

[Skeezix]

The massive growth downtown is impacting institutional usage in a big way. Hospitals are having a hard time keeping up with the increased demand. Will see more of this.

Well said. And it's not just the growth downtown, although the growth in the central city is most evident on any given night in the ER. Some of the downtown hospitals - Sick Kids and Princess Margaret in particular - serve huge catchment areas and have to accommodate growth across the entire Golden Horseshoe and beyond. Even the other hospitals, being in the centre of Canada's largest city, have specialists and departments which serve patients from across a huge swath of the province.

 

[Skeezix]

Instead of merging hospitals into one site, the province should be expanding the existing ones. Not everyone can drive, if they will still have a driver's license after 80, to the hospital for appointments.

I don't follow this issue that closely, so wondering which hospitals you are referring to as merging on one site (presumably other than those that Harris' Health Services Restructuring Commission closed and merged in the 90s)? I know hospitals are increasingly merging administrative functions (like the relatively recent Sinai Health System and the still unnamed, as far as I know, St. Mike's/St. Joe's/Providence network), but unaware of consolidations of various sites into one. But my knowledge awareness of GTA hospitals tends to be limited to the core and surrounding areas.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

I don't follow this issue that closely, so wondering which hospitals you are referring to as merging on one site (presumably other than those that Harris' Health Services Restructuring Commission closed and merged in the 90s)? I know hospitals are increasingly merging administrative functions (like the relatively recent Sinai Health System and the still unnamed, as far as I know, St. Mike's/St. Joe's/Providence network), but unaware of consolidations of various sites into one. But my knowledge awareness of GTA hospitals tends to be limited to the core and surrounding areas.

Humber River Regional is a relatively recent case that came to mind. But counter to that there is an efficiency argument to be made as well - and not all sites are suitable for expansion either. The trend here and elsewhere is for mega-hospital complexes instead of small community hospitals.

AoD

 

[ShonTron]

Humber River Regional is a relatively recent case that came to mind. But counter to that there is an efficiency argument to be made as well - and not all sites are suitable for expansion either. The trend here and elsewhere is for mega-hospital complexes instead of small community hospitals.

AoD

Consolidation of hospital services in Scarborough is likely - all three sites are now under a single board. It's likely that the three hospitals (General, Centenary, Grace) will become two. To some degree, it makes sense, but in areas outside Toronto, the new larger hospital sites are very autocentric, as they're built in greenfield locations.

Two sites in St. Catharines were merged into a new greenfield location several years ago, and a similar plan will consolidate hospitals in Niagara Falls, Welland, and Port Colborne to a single new greenfield hospital site near the QEW, with a new ambulatory care centre in Welland. A similar consolidation - with a remote greenfield site - is planned for Windsor.

At least in central Toronto, the plan has always been for intensification of existing hospital campuses.

 

[pman]

Consolidation of hospital services in Scarborough is likely - all three sites are now under a single board. It's likely that the three hospitals (General, Centenary, Grace) will become two. To some degree, it makes sense, but in areas outside Toronto, the new larger hospital sites are very autocentric, as they're built in greenfield locations.

Two sites in St. Catharines were merged into a new greenfield location several years ago, and a similar plan will consolidate hospitals in Niagara Falls, Welland, and Port Colborne to a single new greenfield hospital site near the QEW, with a new ambulatory care centre in Welland. A similar consolidation - with a remote greenfield site - is planned for Windsor.

At least in central Toronto, the plan has always been for intensification of existing hospital campuses.

Hey, Scarborough folks are going to get a one-stop hospital!

 

[maestro]

Hospital Row doesn't just serve Torontonians. It's at the forefront of medicine. I don't think people realize just how high each one of these specialized hospitals rate globally.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Hospital Row doesn't just serve Torontonians. It's at the forefront of medicine. I don't think people realize just how high each one of these specialized hospitals rate globally.

Yup - these and Sunnybrook are basically national quaternary care centres.

AoD

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

Consolidation of hospital services in Scarborough is likely - all three sites are now under a single board. It's likely that the three hospitals (General, Centenary, Grace) will become two. To some degree, it makes sense, but in areas outside Toronto, the new larger hospital sites are very autocentric, as they're built in greenfield locations.

Two sites in St. Catharines were merged into a new greenfield location several years ago, and a similar plan will consolidate hospitals in Niagara Falls, Welland, and Port Colborne to a single new greenfield hospital site near the QEW, with a new ambulatory care centre in Welland. A similar consolidation - with a remote greenfield site - is planned for Windsor.

At least in central Toronto, the plan has always been for intensification of existing hospital campuses.

Given the requirements of large sites (and often proximate highway access) for these hospitals I can understand why greenfield locations are chosen (vs. some inner community, likely post-industrial contaminated site with limited expansion potential). Having said that, these issues should have been dealt with through planning - future development of the community around the facility and transit access.

AoD

 

[ADRM]

Hospital Row doesn't just serve Torontonians. It's at the forefront of medicine. I don't think people realize just how high each one of these specialized hospitals rate globally.

Yup -- we're both extremely fortunate and pretty complacent. Sick Kids, for instance, gets paid tens of millions of dollars every year by governments all over the developing world that want to develop facilities and deliver services "The Sick Kids Way." It's become an important revenue stream for them.

 

[Johnny Au]

Yup - these and Sunnybrook are basically national quaternary care centres.

AoD

Don't forget about CNIB, Holland Bloorview, and Toronto Rehab being across the ravine from Sunnybrook.

 

[Therion]

We looked at selling our ridiculously over-appreciated townhouse in Leaside and moving to a smaller town and live mortgage-free, but Sick Kids is basically the reason my two children are still alive (donation to expansion coming from us soon), and we'd never want to be more than a reasonable drive away from it. We often see cars packed to the hilt in the garage with out-of-town license plates. People from all over Ontario come to see the specialists here and no one should ever forget how lucky we are in Toronto to have some of the best hospitals in the world available to us. And basically for free!