Hamilton Health Sciences has announced that the opening date for the new West Lincoln Memorial Hospital will be delayed, with a new opening date not yet confirmed.
The new Grimsby-based hospital was originally supposed to open its doors on this October, with the original opening date announcement having been made in May.
However, delays in the construction and permitting process have led to the need to delay the opening date.
Construction was originally scheduled to be completed by the end of this month, and the October opening date was meant to give staff several weeks to move everything into the new facility and get staff prepared to start operating out of the new hospital.
However, the construction partner, EllisDon, has announced that the original timeline won’t be met.
EllisDon issued a statement explaining the delay.
“We want to clarify that this delay reflects the careful finalization of essential systems, inspections, and approvals – all necessary to ensure the hospital fully meets the highest safety and quality standards, which is our top priority,” reads the statement.
“Some of these tasks are influenced by procurement timelines and the scheduling of permits required for Substantial Completion. Our team is actively working on site every day and remains fully committed to competing the project as promptly as possible,” it continues.
The project to build the new West Lincoln Memorial Hospital began back in May 2022.
Once completed, the new facility will include 55 inpatient beds, three operating rooms, as well as a 24-hour emergency department.
It will also be 80 per cent larger than the existing the existing facility that it has been designed to replace.
Once the hospital does have a new opening date, the opening process will still be gradual. The Ministry of Health has guidance for new hospitals about gradual openings, to adequately assess patient volume.
The Oct. 27 opening date that has now been delayed was chosen because of its significance to the community. The original West Lincoln Memorial Hospital opened on Oct. 27, 1949. The new West Lincoln Memorial Hospital was scheduled to have opened 76 years to the day after the opening of the hospital it has been designed to replace.
The Niagara Independent will continue to follow this story and will report to readers when a new opening date for the hospital has been confirmed.
Jay Goldberg is the Canadian Affairs Manager at the Consumer Choice Center. He previously served as the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
