Hospitals in KW

[Acitta]

New hospital is planned on the University of Waterloo campus

Hospital planners have chosen vacant land on the University of Waterloo campus as the proposed site for a new hospital that will have almost 1,000 beds to serve Kitchener, Waterloo and beyond.

The hospital won’t open until 2035 or later, pending five years of construction after the provincial government provides final approval and funding.

It’s to be located on the university’s north campus, south of Bearinger Road and east of Westmount Road North, beside the David Johnston Research and Technology park in Waterloo.

[panamaniac]

duplicate post

[panamaniac]

I wonder how much Waterloo and Kitchener will be expected to contribute to the cost of the project? In Ottawa's case, it's something like $700million, or about a third of the total cost.

[Rainrider22]

ST Mary's hospital currently has one of the highest survival rates in Canada if you suffer a cardiac event. There are many reasons for this but one of the top reasons is it is quickly accessible. Time is everything in a cardiac event. If I suffer a cardiac event in my home once St Mary's closes, the time it will take to get to the new hospital will likely cost my my life... But oh well, its sexy to put a hospital on University land.

[SF22]

ST Mary's hospital currently has one of the highest survival rates in Canada if you suffer a cardiac event.  There are many reasons for this but one of the top reasons is it is quickly accessible.  Time is everything in a cardiac event.  If I suffer a cardiac event in my home once St Mary's closes,  the time it will take to get to the new hospital will likely cost my my life...  But oh well, its sexy to put a hospital on University land.

Unfortunately, we don't build hospitals for individuals, we build them for cities. People who live in the north end of Waterloo, or Elmira or Wellesley, will benefit from the new hospital location because it puts resources much closer to where they live. There was never going to be a location that makes everyone happy. (For me personally, the UW location will be twice as far away from my home as either GRH or StM).

[Vojnik_Vahaj]

Wait, so they're closing down Grand River and St. Mary's?

[Rainrider22]

ST Mary's hospital currently has one of the highest survival rates in Canada if you suffer a cardiac event.  There are many reasons for this but one of the top reasons is it is quickly accessible.  Time is everything in a cardiac event.  If I suffer a cardiac event in my home once St Mary's closes,  the time it will take to get to the new hospital will likely cost my my life...  But oh well, its sexy to put a hospital on University land.

Unfortunately, we don't build hospitals for individuals, we build them for cities. People who live in the north end of Waterloo, or Elmira or Wellesley, will benefit from the new hospital location because it puts resources much closer to where they live. There was never going to be a location that makes everyone happy. (For me personally, the UW location will be twice as far away from my home as either GRH or StM).

We build them for people.  And so they should be near the highest concentration of people to work effectively.  I recognize this location might be good for the people in the north part of the region, but again, that is a fraction of the population.  People who choose to live in rural settings recognize they are farther way from amenities.  I know because I have lived in the country.  But now, I live in the city close to 2 Hospitals.  I also work in the field, I am very aware of the impact that the additional travel time will have with respect to emergent situations.

[KevinL]

Wait, so they're closing down Grand River and St. Mary's?

Closing St Mary's entirely, yes. Grand River will become ambulatory and urgent care only (no emergency).

[Vojnik_Vahaj]

I'm sure they have their reasons but that doesn't seem like the best idea

[Rainrider22]

This is what many people are missing. They think that Grand River staying open for urgent care is the same as an emergency room. It is not, not even close.

[bravado]

Sorry urban dwellers, we can’t build anything new for you because all the money is gone supporting wasteful money-hole suburbs.

Surely, other cities also don’t have hospitals or stadiums or other big public spaces downtown? How can they afford it?! /s

[KentHD]

ST Mary's hospital currently has one of the highest survival rates in Canada if you suffer a cardiac event.  There are many reasons for this but one of the top reasons is it is quickly accessible.  Time is everything in a cardiac event.  If I suffer a cardiac event in my home once St Mary's closes,  the time it will take to get to the new hospital will likely cost my my life...  But oh well, its sexy to put a hospital on University land.

While St. Mary's has outstanding cardiac care I think surviving a cardiac event is going to be influenced more by how quickly emergency services arrive and can start CPR, oxygen a defibrillator,  etc., than whether the ambulance drive is 2 minutes or 10.

[the_conestoga_guy]

Sorry urban dwellers, we can’t build anything new for you because all the money is gone supporting wasteful money-hole suburbs.

Surely, other cities also don’t have hospitals or stadiums or other big public spaces downtown? How can they afford it?! /s

I know the location isn't ideal for people living in the core, but it's even worse for people living in East and South-West Kitchener. They're stuck in that sweet-spot where the new hospital and Cambridge's are equally far away - about 20 minutes by car. So it's not like all of the suburbs are benefiting.

No, I'd be willing to bet a large sum of money that the location was dictated by UW offering a sweetheart deal for the land cost in exchange for some sort of exclusive research access. As soon as this became the cheapest option, I don't think they looked much harder at locations that were more equitable for the rest of the city.

I think it's a perfectly meh location. It's about as close as we could have hoped to the ION. But it has terrible access by personal vehicles for people in the previously stated areas.

[ijmorlan]

ST Mary's hospital currently has one of the highest survival rates in Canada if you suffer a cardiac event.  There are many reasons for this but one of the top reasons is it is quickly accessible.  Time is everything in a cardiac event.  If I suffer a cardiac event in my home once St Mary's closes,  the time it will take to get to the new hospital will likely cost my my life...  But oh well, its sexy to put a hospital on University land.

Unfortunately, we don't build hospitals for individuals, we build them for cities. People who live in the north end of Waterloo, or Elmira or Wellesley, will benefit from the new hospital location because it puts resources much closer to where they live. There was never going to be a location that makes everyone happy. (For me personally, the UW location will be twice as far away from my home as either GRH or StM).

Right, we build hospitalS.

A single location is obviously idiotic. The correct thing to do is to open a new location and keep the existing ones.

Any experts reading this who disagree: If I’m wrong, you should be able to explain briefly why and how. I promise to read and think carefully about anything you write before repeating my disagreement (or, in principle, changing my opinion, but I don’t see that as very likely in this case; at a minimum you must address the issue of resilience in the face of an ER-closing event).

[tomh009]

Any experts reading this who disagree: If I’m wrong, you should be able to explain briefly why and how. I promise to read and think carefully about anything you write before repeating my disagreement (or, in principle, changing my opinion, but I don’t see that as very likely in this case; at a minimum you must address the issue of resilience in the face of an ER-closing event).

Alas, I don't think the real experts read these forums.