Ontario Announces New Hospital Dedicated Solely to Treating COVID-19 Patients

Ontario Premier Doug Ford prepares to speak at Queen’s Park in Toronto on Jan. 12, 2021. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced on Jan. 18 that a new hospital in Vaughan will be dedicated solely to treating COVID-19 patients in order to support the province’s pandemic response.

The Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital, scheduled to open on Feb. 7, will be solely devoted to treating COVID-19 patients to relieve pressure on nearby hospitals due to rapid increases in hospitalizations and ICU occupancy rates.

“The Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital is the first newly built hospital in three decades and this net new capacity will be critical until we are in a position to widely administer vaccines across the province,” Ford said.

“I want to especially thank Mackenzie Health for stepping up to allow us to temporarily use this new facility to support our COVID-19 response and take pressure off other hospitals in the region. It’s these kinds of innovative partnerships that make a world of difference in our fight against this deadly virus.”

The new hospital, as part of the Mackenzie Health network which is a regional health care provider, is also the first hospital to be built in the city of Vaughan.

Ford said the province will provide up to $125 million to immediately add over 500 critical critical care and high intensity medicine beds to hospitals in areas with high rates of COVID-19 transmission. A portion of this funding will be used to temporarily transition Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital into a systemwide resource to support Ontario’s response to the virus.

The hospital will provide a total of 185 beds, including more than 35 critical care beds and 150 general medicine beds, which will help alleviate capacity pressure on other hospitals. According to the Ford government, the new hospital will provide care and services to patients from western York Region as originally planned once capacity pressures have stabilized.

As of Jan. 18, the province reported 2,578 new cases, 2,826 recovered cases, one more hospitalization, 24 new associated deaths, and one less patient in ICU.