Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a new mental health unit will soon begin construction at Joseph Brant Hospital.
Ford, along with Burlington MPP Natalie Pierre, Mayor Marianne Meed Ward, and Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr, said the province’s investment will create a state-of-the-art space for inpatient and outpatient services to meet the needs of the the community.
“It will include a renovated inpatient adult mental health acute care unit, enhanced child and youth care programming, and a new adult outpatient space better suited to improve clinical flow and patient care,” Ford said.
It’s not clear yet how much the new unit will cost, though $5 million is coming from local philanthropists Michael and Laura Paletta – for whom the new unit will be named.
Construction is expected to start in April 2025, and is expected to take more than two years to complete
“The inpatient unit is scheduled to start construction in January 2026, and finish nine or 10 months after that,” Eric Vanderwall, president and CEO of Joseph Brant Hospital said. “On the heels of that, then we start the child and adolescent outpatient expansion project, which will take another nine or 10 months.”
Ford added the province is investing $50 billion across the next decade to connect more residents with healthcare closer to home, $4 billion of which is specifically for mental health services. The province is also connecting with more first responders for mental health, listening to their needs and treating mental health with the urgency that it requires. It was specified that the investment in first responder training is province wide and not specific to Joseph Brant Hospital.
Meed Ward said she had spoken with Ford as chair of the Ontario Big City Mayors, speaking about mental health and homelessness.
“We have advocated for a coordinated, Ontario-wide approach for mental health, addictions, and homelessness,” Meed Ward said. “I see this as evidence that they are listening to that call. People will come here from outside of Burlington. This is a regional investment, and it is so necessary.”
Meed Ward added it is an incredible investment for the community, and city council advocated unanimously, and supported the hospital in asking the province for the funding approximately a year ago.
There are currently or will shortly be more than 50 hospital developments in the works in Ontario, Sylvia Jones deputy premier and minister of health said.
“We’re investing to modernize hospital infrastructure by supporting critical upgrades and repairs, and we are improving access to diagnostic imaging with a record 49 new MRI machines across Ontario, including right here at Joseph Brant Hospital,” Jones said.
The province added the $4 billion investment in mental health and addiction services will result in 500 new addiction treatment beds in communities across Ontario. Associate minister of mental health and addictions Michael Tibollo said when they took office in 2018, the system was in disrepair after decades of neglect.
