Late last week Minister of Health Eric Hoskins was in Brampton to announce funding for the expansion of Peel Memorial Centre for Integrated Health into a full hospital.

The announcement comes on the heels of shocking reports that 4,352 patients were cared for in hospital hallways last year.

After a massive public outcry and an open letter by Mayor Linda Jeffrey, the province finally took action. Here’s everything we know about the expansion so far:

An extension will be built

Phase two of Peel Memorial will include an expansion of the current facility which will likely be a multi-level building constructed adjacent to the existing structure. Currently, the land right in front of the urgent care building is empty, and this is where anything new will be built.

Inpatient beds will be included

Brampton’s current hospital has had serious capacity issues, so naturally, the phase two will include building inpatient beds. These beds will be fore acute care, emergency care, rehabilitation and some other services.

Funding will come from the Province

The exact amount needed for the second phase of Peel memorial hasn’t been made public yet, but the funding will come from the Province. Brampton has already contributed its 10 per cent share to the project, a $60 million contribution made years ago. An additional $20 million has already been earmarked and collected from Brampton taxpayers at the municipal level, so the rest is now up to the province.

It’s going to take a few years to open

In the coming weeks, William Osler will be working with Infrastructure Ontario and the Government of Ontario to develop exact timelines for the different phases of the project. Carr, the CEO of Osler has stated that the construction phase will take time and it will be a few years before the new extension is constructed and is available to the public.

Watch our full interview with Dr. Brendan Carr, the new CEO of William Osler Health System below for more information.

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