Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre finishes new addition

The expansion of the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) in Barrie, Ont. is complete.

The addition includes a variety of new services that will be offered to the residents of Simcoe County and the District of Muskoka, including the new Simcoe Muskoka Regional Cancer Centre, scheduled to open in early summer, which will offer comprehensive care to more than 2,000 newly diagnosed cancer patients annually.

“After more than a decade of planning, fundraising and construction, the region’s dream is a reality,” said Janice Skot, president and CEO of Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre. “The expansion of RVH will provide Simcoe Muskoka residents with enhanced services and timely access to healthcare closer to home.”

The 400,000-plus sq. ft. addition also features a 32-bed respiratory unit and an expanded emergency department, both of which are scheduled to open over the next few weeks; capacity for an additional 101 inpatient beds; an expanded, fully-automated laboratory; the doubling of the size of the diagnostic imaging department; a dedicated seven-bed coronary care unit for critically ill cardiac patients; expansion space for two future patient care units and two more operating rooms (to be completed in 2013).

The expansion project nearly doubles the size of the existing hospital.

Renovations on the existing hospital are scheduled for completion by fall 2013.