Skip to content

Let's not forget our small town hospitals

Stevenson Memorial Hospital, built in 1964, is in desperate need of redevelopment to continue meeting community needs.
jody l (1)
Jody Levac, President and CEO, Stevenson Memorial Hospital

The building is tired, but the staff is not.

Jody Levac, president and CEO at Stevenson Memorial Hospital paints a clear picture of the need to redevelop the 51-year-old building.

"Our goal is to revitalize Stevenson, and bring it into the 21st Century," he told Innisfil Council in a presentation Wednesday.

He provided an update of the $136 million redevelopment plan currently waiting for approval from the Ministry of Health and Longterm Care. The community fundraising campaign would need to solicit "

It includes building a new Emergency Department, state-of-the-art operating rooms, revitalized diagnostic imaging suites and laboratories, along with refreshed outpatient clinics.

Built in 1964, Stevenson's Emergency Department was designed to accommodate 7,000 visits per year. In 2015, the number of visits is expected to eclipse 37,000.

The Alliston hospital would more than double in size if the wrap-around, two-storey plan goes ahead - growing to over 161,500 square feet.

​The design also preserves the helipad, a dedicated internal road for ambulances and triple the current number of parking spaces, improving accessibiity for patients.

Levac says he is hopeful that construction will begin in September, 2018.

He encouraged Innisfil Council to support the hospital expansion at the Simcoe County Hospital Alliance - a group that will decide which local hospitals receive funding from the County.

"I see Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre and Southlake Regional Healthcare Centre (in Newmarket) ... and now I ask you where small community hospitals sit on the healthcare landscape in Ontario?" Levac asked.

"We are there to save your life."

Deputy Mayor Lynn Dollin, who will vote on Alliance funding along with mayors and deputy mayors of every Simcoe County municipality, says she has been a patient and a recent visitor at Stevenson.

"What Stevenson Memorial lacks in the building, it more than makes up for with staff," she said.


Reader Feedback

Robin MacLennan

About the Author: Robin MacLennan

Robin MacLennan has been a reporter, photographer and editor for the daily media in Barrie, across Simcoe County and Toronto for many years. She is a proud member of the Barrie community.
Read more