Procurement process for new Windsor/Essex Acute Care Hospital delayed 3 months
The site of the new Windsor Acute Care Hospital near the intersection of County Rd 42 and Concession Road 9 as seen on April 22, 2025. (Gary Archibald/CTV News Windsor)
The procurement process for the new Windsor/Essex Acute Care Hospital will be delayed by three month, according to a market update released by Infrastructure Ontario on Thursday.
The market update informs the public on key updates to major construction projects, like the new mega hospital.
The update anticipates that the procurement process will happen between July and September 2025,approximately three months later than the last market update, where RFQ was forecast between April-June 2025.
A news release from Windsor Regional Hospital said this revised timeline does not impact the scope of the hospital project and is largely a result of the evolving national and international construction market conditions such as supply chain disruptions, inflationary cost increases, skilled labour shortages and those caused by the tariffs imposed by the President of the United States.
In response to these shifts and feedback from the construction industry, WRH officials say they continue to move forward with the new hospital as quickly and cost efficiently as possible.
The project includes an enabling works component which consists of the construction of education and administration spaces, a parking structure, and essential site infrastructure to lay the groundwork for our hospital.
This first phase of the project remains on schedule with groundbreaking expected early 2026 – if not sooner. WRH officials expect to announcing a successful proponent for this part of the project this summer.
'This adjustment is both prudent and strategic. It positions us effectively to navigate the current industry landscape while remaining fully committed to delivering a world-class acute care hospital that our community needs and deserves,' said Karen Riddell, acting president and CEO of Windsor Regional Hospital.
Windsor Regional Hospital and project leadership continue to work closely with the Ministry of Health and Infrastructure Ontario to advance the second phase of the project.
WRH User Group teams representing all hospital programs and services have held more than 200 meetings this year alone, with many more actively underway. WRH continues to work with the Ministry of Health and Infrastructure Ontario to advance the project towards RFQ this summer.
The new hospital represents the largest healthcare infrastructure investment in the region's history.
'Delivering the new Windsor/Essex Acute Care Hospital remains one of our government's top local priorities, and I'm proud to stand behind this incredible project that will transform health care for families across Windsor Essex,' said Andrew Dowie, MPP for Windsor–Tecumseh.
'Our hospital represents more than just bricks and mortar — it's a long-term investment in the well-being of our community. The progress we're making reflects our government's responsible planning, strong leadership, and unwavering commitment to the people of our region,' said Essex MPP Anthony Leardi.
WRH officials said they are committed to full transparency and will provide continuous project updates to the community via the hospital's website.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
Enmax electrical workers vote to authorize strike as bargaining continues
Electrical workers with Enmax have passed a strike authorization vote, granting the union's membership the right to issue strike notice to the City of Calgary-owned utility. The vote is the latest development in ongoing negotiations between Enmax and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 254 following the expiration of the previous collective agreement, which covered 389 employees, on Dec. 31, 2024. Brad Dougherty, the union's business manager, told CBC News that the membership is "motivated to get a deal done at the table" and that negotiations with Enmax will take place this week. The strike authorization vote saw a 99.5 per cent member turnout, with 98.9 per cent voting in favour of authorizing job action. The vote, which was certified by the Alberta Labour Relations Board on June 2, gives IBEW Local 254 the right to serve 72-hour strike notice to Enmax within 120 days. Enmax power line technicians, power system electricians, boom truck operators and warehouse workers are among IBEW Local 254's members. Dougherty declined to provide specific details about the union's concerns with the now-expired contract, with a release sent by the union stating "key issues around wages and benefits remain unsolved." In a statement sent to CBC News, Enmax said that over the last several months it has been working with IBEW Local 254 toward renewing the collective agreement. The utility said it was "disappointed by the vote outcome" and confirmed that notice had been received regarding the union's vote in favour of supporting a strike. "We value our union team members and remain hopeful we can reach a fair and balanced agreement without disruption to our operations," Enmax said. The collective bargaining process has been ongoing since last year, with formal mediation between the union and Enmax leaving the two at an impasse. "Really, we're just looking to achieve something that's fair for our membership, and recognizing the value that they bring both to the organization and to the city as a whole," Dougherty said.
CTV News
3 hours ago
- CTV News
Ontario woman back on a waitlist after surgery she waited for 5 years failed
Karen Harris said she spent years on the surgical waitlist, but when she got the procedure done, it failed. Now she's waiting again. It took about five years for Karen Harris to get the surgery she needed and when she finally did, she says it failed and she was placed back on a waiting list with no indication of when she will be seen again. Harris, a Windsor resident, has a rare condition caused by an elongated styloid process known as Eagle's syndrome. Because of the condition, she says that she can't sit upright for a long time, is forced to wear a neck brace whenever she goes in a car and, at times, needs to use a wheelchair. She spent years on a waiting list for a procedure that doctors told her would finally help relieve her symptoms and improve her qualify of life and finally got the call late last year. Karen Harris But days after undergoing the procedure at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto on Dec. 4, she says she hemorrhaged litres of blood and was thrown back onto the surgical waitlist. She said that she has considered going to the U.S. to get the procedure done but would have to put a second mortgage on her home to do so as the operation costs anywhere from US$30,000 to $100,000. Plus, she's afraid of what could happen if she has complications post-operation again. 'I'm losing. It's a losing battle,' she said of the frustrating wait for care. 'I'm just in this limbo again and it's just horrific.' Harris is just one of more than 200,000 Ontarians that are believed to be waiting for a surgical procedure. Nationally, the Fraser Institute estimates that approximately 1.5 million people are waiting for some sort of procedure. It says that the proportion of the population on a waiting list varies from a low of three per cent in Ontario to nearly eight per cent in Prince Edward Island. Harris told CTV News Toronto that her experience is particularly frustrating because it feels like 'a systemic issue.' 'There's just no pathway forward for a lot of patients like me, with chronic health conditions, or people waiting for surgery,' she said. 'We have amazing, worldclass doctors and hospitals a couple hours away from Windsor but it's just these silos—these healthcare silos—are just really making it impossible for people like me to get care.' Both Mount Sinai Hospital and Windsor Regional Hospital wouldn't comment directly on Harris's case. 'We know that any delay in care is stressful to our patients and their families,' a statement from Mount Sinai reads. The Toronto hospital adds there are 'many factors' that come into play with regards to their surgical waitlist and when surgeries are scheduled, but they did not elaborate further on what those factors are. 'Our surgical teams work to ensure timely access to care, balancing the needs of all the patients we serve.' Harris has been on long-term disability since 2019 For years Harris, 37, enjoyed her life to the fullest, working her dream job at a nutraceuticals company in Windsor. Harris says she has had underlying aches and pains before but dismissed her concerns as she'd chalk it up to the growing pains of being a mother to two, now-teenage, daughters. It was one day when she was making her way to the office that her aches and pains 'all of a sudden' hit her, causing her to go completely out of breath from just walking in the parking lot. 'My heart rate was just not slowing down, I was getting really dizzy,' Harris recounted in an interview with CTV News Toronto. Though she had a high heart rate already due to her POTS syndrome—an autonomic nervous system disorder—imaging she had taken after this episode revealed she also has Eagle's syndrome. 'It's where I say it's like chicken bones, like they are extended multiple centimetres from the base of my skull, pressing into the sides of my throat,' Harris said. 'I've choked, I've aspirated fluids, I have hearing issues, facial pain—the list just goes on, and on, and on, and on." Eagle's syndrome An image of the elongated styloid processes. Harris has been on long-term disability ever since her diagnosis, starting in 2019. In 2020, she said she got a referral to surgeon in Toronto who could help her. At first it was an in-person appointment that May, which was switched to a phone call in June 2020 as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. By January 2021, she says she finally got to see the surgeon in person, who then approved her for surgery. Harris recounts being told she was put on a high-priority waitlist and would be seen in either a couple of weeks or months. She adds she was told she would need to isolate while she waited for surgery, as her surgeon specialized in head and neck cancer surgeries and could not risk falling ill. So, Harris isolated. She said she didn't leave her house and didn't have anyone come over for a visit, because she didn't want to ruin her chance of getting surgery. Her daughters even transferred to online schooling, the mother adds. 'I missed everything for weeks and weeks, years and years,' Harris said. At the start she says the communication between her and health-care staff was 'pretty amazing,' but as time carried on, the quick responses apologizing for the wait turned to requests to stop calling for updates. 'It was just really demotivating,' Harris said. 'All I'm doing is filling up an inbox or a voicemail inbox that's probably overflowing (…) like I'm just adding more burden into the healthcare system.' By 2024, she finally got the call with the surgery date. But after the procedure happened, Harris recalled waking up to hear the procedure became 'too risky.' 'He said he kind of pushed (the bone) to the side (but) he couldn't remove it because it was too close to my carotid artery and cranial facial nerves, and it was just too risky to remove from that approach,' Harris said, adding she was told the bone was left in her neck. 'I never heard of that happening before.' 'It wasn't even about the pain anymore' She returned home to Windsor after a couple of days, to ensure she'd be well enough. But Harris says five or six days later after the operation, she started coughing up blood. Harris says she immediately called the paramedics because she couldn't tell if the blood was coming from her surgical site or from her stomach, and they swiftly brought her to the emergency room. But says she waited hours on the gurney, 'throwing up a litre of blood,' while she waited to be admitted to a room. 'Staff was walking by me and everyone was—healthcare workers are all very empathetic and compassionate, but they're just so severely understaffed,' Harris said. Harris says she spent about three nights at Windsor Regional Hospital, profusely bleeding off-and-on throughout her stay and, at one point, pulling out blood clots 'the size of ping pong balls' from her throat. 'I was covered in blood, just covered. I was so mad. It wasn't even about the pain anymore,' Harris said. She says during her time there, she never met with an appropriate surgeon, adding she was repeatedly told doctors don't want to treat another surgeon's patient after an operation due to liability concerns. So, she was airlifted back to Sinai in Toronto, had CT scans there, and was discharged on Dec. 18. Karen Harris Karen Harris being airlifted to Toronto. Harris says she last saw her surgeon in February this year, where they requested more imaging and confirmed they would carry-on with her surgery again, but this time trying a different approach. She says she still hasn't heard back. Why is there a delay to get a surgery? Ontario's surgical backlog grew to more than 245,000 procedures amid the COVID-19 pandemic but has steadily decreased in recent years, as the province has poured millions of dollars into tackling the backlog. That, however, is of little comfort to patients like Harris. Isser Dubinsky, a retired clinical physician who had worked in emergency medicine and previously consulted in the development of the wait-time strategy in Ontario, said there's a variety of factors that come into play while waiting for a procedure. 'There's the wait-time to see your family doctor who has to come up with a diagnosis that requires surgery, there's the wait-time from when the family doctor sees or can arrange a referral to a surgeon, and then there's a wait-time from when after that patient sees the surgeon until they get access to surgical care,' Dubinsky said, adding each step is 'integral' to the problem. Outside of a shortage of family doctors, Dubinsky says they're not providing the same number of in-person office hours as they had before the pandemic with several patients being met online, mitigating against their ability of conducting physical exams and potentially leading to 'reasonable skepticism' from the surgeon when they don't have all of the given information they need. 'There's also a huge amount of fractionation of family medicine,' Dubinsky adds, as some family doctors don't fit the traditional role of what a family physician is. 'There are family doctors who only practice psychotherapy, there are family doctors who largely practice emergency medicine (…) and so on, so the number of family physicians who are providing what you or I might have thought of as comprehensive primary care is diminished.' Then when it comes to getting from a family physician to a surgeon, Dubinsky says surgeons will want to know what the patient's imaging has shown, which means various tests need to be arranged before a specialist will see them. Once tests have been completed and a patient is off to see a surgeon, Dubinsky says they follow clear guidelines for what an appropriate time is to wait for a procedure to be done—which is gauged on a patient's symptoms and physical findings. Dubinsky also says time is wasted in the operating rooms, which can stem from a doctor showing up just 15 minutes late. 'Let me give you the arithmetic example of your average community-sized hospital in Ontario that has six operating rooms functioning. If each of those six operating rooms starts 10 minutes late every day, that's an hour of time that's wasted every day, that's five hours a week, that's 260 hours a year. That's enough time to do 100 hip or knee replacements,' Dubinsky said, adding on top of that, surgeons have allocated operating room time, which can vary per doctor. A spokesperson for Ontario's Ministry of Health says the province has 'some of the shortest wait times' across Canada, with nearly 80 per cent of people receiving their procedure in the clinically recommended amount of time.
National Post
4 hours ago
- National Post
WSIB Rejects Unions Latest Offer
Article content TORONTO — After hearing nothing from the employer for over a week, the union and employer met to exchange proposals, but remain far apart on wages, workload, and employer cuts to seniority rights. The union has made significant movements to try and find a fair compromise, but after significant setbacks, the mediator made the decision to call-off the mediation. Article content OCEU is deeply disappointed that the employer rejected our proposal and hasn't presented their own in over a week. The union amended our proposal in the spirit of negotiation to bring the employer closer to addressing the workload issues which are impacting our members health and well-being. Despite our reasonable offer, the employer still refused to counter our proposal. Article content Article content OCEU/CUPE 1750 remains available to negotiate but needs to see a meaningful move by the employer to meet our members core needs. Picket lines will continue until a fair deal is reached. Article content mb/cope491 Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Article content Article content
