Doug Ford says Conservatives will build South Niagara Hospital

Speaking in Niagara Falls this morning, PC leader Doug Ford said only a re-elected PC government will get shovels in the ground this year to build a new hospital in Niagara Falls with more beds and expanded services.

The hospital has already been in the works for several years to assist the underserved south-east end of Niagara.

“The Del Duca-Wynne Liberals made empty promises to people in the Niagara Region and stalled this project for years,” said Ford. “The Liberals and Andrea Horwath’s NDP voted against this project and have no real plan to fix the broken health care system they left behind.”

Since 2018, the Ontario PCs have invested almost $20 million to plan the new 11-storey South Niagara Hospital that is expected to start construction in Fall 2022.

The hospital will consolidate and expand acute care services and replace outdated infrastructure with high-tech facilities including eight operating suites and 469 medical surgical, complex care and critical care beds. This is 156 more beds than Niagara Health’s Port Colborne, Fort Erie and Niagara campuses combined.

In addition to 24/7 emergency, critical care and surgical services, the hospital will also be home to several centres of excellence specializing in stroke, complex care, geriatrics and geriatric psychiatry and wellness in aging.

However, Ford’s stand this morning in Niagara Falls did bring a cheer from Mayor Jim Diodati

“With Niagara Falls and the region’s population growing faster than ever before, Doug Ford has proven he can get the important infrastructure projects that we need to grow our communities across the finish line,” said Diodati.

“His government is continuously helping us behind the scenes on key projects like daily GO train service to Niagara and the South Niagara Hospital, which are game-changers for the future of our region.”