Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) hosted a gathering today to thank Simcoe County council for all they have done to assist in RVH's growth, with millions of dollars invested into regional health care.
Members of the county’s council were in the main lobby of the Barrie hospital Thursday morning to present a $2.3-million cheque to staff and volunteers. That called for a warm thank-you.
RVH president and CEO Janice Skot spoke about what the money means and why it's important to continue giving.
“We started as a four-bed community hospital in the 1800s and now, of course, we’re a full-fledged regional health centre,” said Skot. “It is actually 50 per cent of our care that goes to people who live outside of Barrie.
“Today, unfortunately, there are still patients being cared for in hallways, because we cannot meet the demand," she added. "If our population is going to nearly double by 2041, we have to add new infrastructure to make sure patients can be cared for appropriately and as close to home as possible.”
The county’s latest investment is part of its $5.6-million plan to help the Simcoe Muskoka Child and Youth Mental Health program. The county has a 15-year, $45-million pledge to the Simcoe County Hospital Alliance, which is spread across all hospitals in Simcoe County.
The current RVH campus in north-end Barrie has 381 beds, but the goal is to have 628 in the north and more at the soon-to-be-built southern campus.
The proposed southern campus, which is expected to be built by 2027-28, is still in the early stages of discussion, with nine potential sites being evaluated.
When the southern campus is complete, the number of beds spread between the two facilities will grow to 940 beds, which is music to ears of Innisfil Mayor Lynn Dollin.
“When I drive here, if (Highway) 400 is plugged up from a Friday afternoon, I have a really hard time getting to RVH,” said Dollin.
“We are really looking forward to the partnership and opening up the new space and looking forward to something for us in Innisfil," she added.
Simcoe County Warden George Cornell was happy to present the cheque to RVH and says he knows all too well how important it is to keep health services close to home.
“My wife was a cancer survivor and we, unfortunately, required the services of RVH,” said Cornell.
“We started her treatment, that is about 10 years ago, and had to go to Toronto for most of it," he added. "Now all of that treatment is available here at RVH, including chemotherapy, radiology and the new oncology centre.
"Personally, it has been wonderful to see the growth of these health services in our region.”
