Construction on new Thunder Bay cardiovascular surgery unit to start this year
Provincial government announces $93M in funding for new unit, which is expected to open in late 2027
The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) is adding cardiovascular surgery to the list of services it provides.
At a media conference on Tuesday, the provincial government announced $93 million in funding for a new cardiovascular surgery program at the TBRHSC, which will include:
- 14 cardiovascular surgery inpatient beds;
- six coronary care unit beds;
- a surgical suite;
- a vascular lab, and
- an expanded ambulatory care and pre-admission clinic.
"It's incredible, it's monumental," said TBRHSC president and CEO Rhonda Crocker Ellacott. "We've been waiting a long time for this."
Currently, patients in need of cardiovascular care must travel outside of northwestern Ontario to receive it, she said.
"We essentially have the full spectrum of services here in northwestern Ontario with the exception of cardiovascular services," Crocker Ellacott said. "So this is really that missing piece of the puzzle."
The new unit will be about 76,000 square feet. Some of it will be housed in existing, renovated hospital space, but a new addition will also be constructed.
Work is expected to start in March, and the new unit is scheduled for completion in late 2027.
"As the region has grown, there's been an increased need for these types of services," said Thunder Bay-Atikokan MPP Kevin Holland, who announced the funding on Tuesday. "As we looked at how the numbers were increasing, the ability to provide the service here just made sense."
"It really is positioning Thunder Bay as a real healthcare hub on top of what they've already been doing here," he said. "So this is just a fantastic addition to an already great organization providing exceptional healthcare."