And a recent poll suggests many of you support the direction the hospital is headed.
York Central has handed in its stage one planning submission for a new facility in Vaughan and for the expansion of the existing hospital in Richmond Hill to the Health and Long-Term Care Ministry and Central LHIN.
“It’s a massive milestone,” Mr. Stationwala said. “For the community, this is the closest they’ve ever been to getting a hospital in Vaughan. We’re very confident we’re going to get into phase two quickly.”
Exactly how long it will take to get approval to move to the next stage of the five-stage planning process is unclear, but Mr. Stationwala predicts it could be just a few months away.
The second phase, known as functional program, is expected to take 12 to 14 months to complete and could cost between $8 million and $9 million.
“We’re pretty excited,” he said “This is something Vaughan has asked for, for the last 10 years and I don’t think we’ve ever been this close.”
York Central received a $7-million provincial grant in October 2009 to develop its stage one submission, which lays out a plan for delivering a range of health-care services through two sites — a future Vaughan hospital and an expanded facility in Richmond Hill.
The 10-year plan for the Vaughan site calls for a 917,000-sq.-ft. full-service hospital, complete with 339 beds, emergency room, ambulatory care and 1,800 parking spaces.
It seems to be a plan most people here would be more than happy to get behind.
A recent telephone survey of 500 residents conducted by Pollara showed overwhelming support for York Central’s vision, Mr. Stationwala said.
It found nine out of 10 residents agree the hospital’s proposal to build a new hospital in Vaughan and expand York Central Hospital is “compelling and urgent”, he said.
“This shows residents strongly support our vision to create a major regional health system to better meet the health care needs of the people of southwest York Region.”
York Central’s plan also has the backing of regional and local governments.
York Region has committed to providing $117 million toward the future Vaughan hospital and nearly $35.4 million for the re-development of the Richmond Hill site.
The city, meanwhile, has agreed to hand over 40 acres of the 87 acres of land at Major Mackenzie Drive and Jane Street, for which it paid close to $60 million, to York Central, Mr. Stationwala said.
“These are big demonstrations to the provincial government that there is tremendous support for this project,” he said. “There’s a lot of other communities across the province that don’t have that endowment or that benefit so we’re quite happy with that.”
The remaining 47 acres of the Vaughan site is to be used for ancillary health-care services, which could include a long-term care facility, laboratories, a pharmacy and a medical research facility.
Vaughan Health Campus of Care is in charge of planning the development of that portion of the land.
The non-profit group received a $10-million federal grant earlier this year to carry out its work.
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