ONTARIO BREAKS GROUND ON NEW REACTIVATION CARE CENTRE IN HAMILTON

$16.7 million investment will connect more people to restorative and specialty care, closer to home

August 12th, 2024

HAMILTON – Construction is underway to build a new Reactivation Care Centre in Hamilton. The new facility, in partnership with St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton (SJHH) and Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS), will provide people who no longer require hospital care with restorative and specialty care, ensuring they are receiving the right care, in the right place.

“Our government is making historic investments in Ontario’s health care system to expand access to care and make it faster and easier for people to connect to the care they need, closer to home,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “The new Reactivation Care Centre will ensure more patients and their families in the Hamilton area are connected to the care and support they need, for years to come.”

The province will invest more than $16 million to build the new Reactivation Care Centre in Hamilton. Once opened, the new 28,000 square-feet centre will include 57 transitional care beds across three units to connect people to a variety of reactivation care needs, including complex care, dementia care services and behavioural support services. The new facility will also have four rooms with dialysis services, allowing more patients to access convenient, on-site hemodialysis treatment. “The province will invest more than $16 million to build the new Reactivation Care Centre in Hamilton. Once opened, the new 28,000 square-feet centre will include 57 transitional care beds across three units to connect people to a variety of reactivation care needs, including complex care, dementia care services and behavioural support services. The new facility will also have four rooms with dialysis services, allowing more patients to access convenient, on-site hemodialysis treatment.

“This Reactivation Care Centre offers a unique opportunity to provide a continuity of care to patients who need more time to recover, while freeing up much-needed space in our hospital to provide acute care to more patients, faster,” said Mike Keenan, President, St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. “We are so grateful to the Province for recognizing this need and for their investment into our community.”

Reactivation care is an innovative model of care that provides people with a seamless transition from hospital to their community care providers when they no longer require hospital care. This ensures more hospital beds are there for those who need it most, while decreasing wait times to ensure more people, no matter where they are in their care journey, are receiving the care they need.

Through Your Health: A Plan For Connected and Convenient Care, Ontario is making it easier and faster for people of all ages to connect to the care they need, where and when they need it. This includes getting shovels in the ground for over 50 hospital developments across the province that will add an additional 3,000 new hospital beds over the next 10 years.

QUICK FACTS

  • Over the next 10 years, Ontario’s investments will lead to nearly $50 billion in health infrastructure across the province, adding 3,000 new beds. This is in addition to the 3,500 the government has added since 2020.
  • In the Hamilton region, the government is also getting shovels in the ground for hospital projects including the St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton psychiatric emergency service redevelopment, Hamilton General Hospital’s emergency department expansion, and the West Lincoln Memorial Hospital redevelopment.
  • The Ontario government is investing more than $228 million tis year to support local infrastructure upgrades and repairs at 129 hospitals and 58 community health care facilities across the province, a 10 per cent increase over last year.

QUOTES

“This announcement is welcomed and appreciated by our community. Thank you to Premier Ford and Minister Jones for recognizing the need for restorative and specialty care in Hamilton. I also want to thank St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton and Hamilton Health Sciences for their ongoing commitment to providing high-level care to our community.

Donna Skelly

MPP, Flamborough-Glanbrook

“Our community needs more options for people who require supportive care. This remarkable investment and partnership will add beds to our community where patients can regain their strength to safely return home or back to their community.”

John Woods

Interim President, St. Joseph’s Villa Dundas

“Health care in our region will be more accessible for all because of this initiative. More capacity in our region to transition patients out of hospital helps our services and teams function more effectively. Hamilton Health Sciences is proud to be a partner in this vital project.”

Tracey MacArthur

President and CEO, Hamilton Health Sciences

“With an estimated 250,000 Ontario residents living with dementia, the new Reactivation Care Centre presents an opportunity to better serve our vulnerable populations. The innovative model of care used by reactivation care centres ensures that Ontario’s vulnerable population groups receive the care they need outside the confines of a hospital, freeing up much-needed hospital beds. This groundbreaking is a testament to our government’s commitment to improve health outcomes and quality of life for people across Ontario.”

Natalia Kusendova-Bashta

Minister of Long-Term Care

“Today’s groundbreaking marks another significant milestone in our government’s work to build more infrastructure, and strengthen Hamilton’s health care network. Once completed, this new facility will ensure that patients receive the specialized support they need, in the right place, helping reduce pressure on our hospitals and improving wait times.”

Neil Lumsden

MPP, Hamilton East-Stoney Creek

“I am absolutely thrilled with today’s announcement by the Provincial government. Today’s ground-breaking of the Reactivation Care facility at St. Joseph’s Villa is a much appreciated investment in our city. I want to thank the Provincial government, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Sylvia Jones, and Premier Ford for their support. The addition of a 57 bed facility in our community that will be providing rehabilitation care to Hamiltonians to transition them back to their community, to home care or to long-term care is welcome news for the City of Hamilton and I’m sure will help take pressure off our hospitals.”

Andrea Horwath

Mayor, City of Hamilton