Though construction is still underway on a new Markdale Hospital, three new beds will be added to the completed project thanks to a recent Ministry of Health decision.
Grey Bruce Health Services announced the expansion to the hospital project in a news release Jan. 20. The hospital will get eight inpatient beds instead of the original five planned.
There won't be a need to expand the footprint, according to Grey Bruce Health Services president and CEO, Gary Sims.
"Fortunately we included flex space into the building plans so that down the road, if we received approval for more beds, we could add them in without putting an addition onto the hospital," said Sims in the news release.
The building is about 30 per cent complete with duct work now being installed to the lower level and electrical servicing underway.
Grey Bruce Health Services estimates the completion date in Spring 2023 with the hospital opening to the public later that year. The old hospital continues to operate in Markdale until the new one is opened.
The province approved the contract and design plans for the new hospital in Feb. 2021. Bird Construction won the bid to build the 78,178 square-foot hospital, which will include an emergency room, eight exam rooms and a treatment room, a palliative care room, physiotherapy area, a procedures room (i.e. endoscopy), a diagnostic imaging space, ambulatory care, a laboratory, offices, an atrium and cafe and an office for the hospital foundation.
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