The expansion of Barrie’s Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) will push forward with a $2.5 million investment from the province.
It was announced in October 2021 that RVH is planning to build the South Campus Health Hub on an 83-acre piece of land at the south-west corner of Yonge Street and Innisfil Beach Road. The funding from the province will help to support the build as it’s in the planning stage.
“After decades of inaction from previous governments, we are making historic investments in hospital infrastructure all across Ontario,” said Premier Doug Ford. “With this investment, the people and families of Simcoe County will now have access to the world-class health care that this growing community needs and deserves.”
The new RVH campus in Innisfil will build on the “one system, two sites” capital plan, according to the province, and will continue to evolve over the next two decades.
There was no timeline provided for when construction on campus will start. A Minister’s Zoning Order was approved for Innisfil council by Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, earlier this year which will accelerate the site’s development, according to provincial officials.
The first phase of the campus, to be built within the next decade, will be a health hub, according to officials with RVH. It will focus on outpatient care, including an urgent care centre. It will expand to a full-service hospital with a 24/7 emergency department, operating rooms, and a birthing units within 20 years.
When it’s finished, the campus is expected to see around 350,000 visitors a year and will be the same size as the north campus that is situated on Georgian Drive.
A partnership between Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare and RVH was forged in May 2021 to bring the Simcoe Muskoka Code SETMI Protocol to our area’s two hospitals. Officials touted it as the “gold standard” of heart attack care.
