Shovels went into the ground on the new Patient Support Centre at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto on October 22.

The launch of construction on the facility marks the beginning of the first of three stages of development, dubbed Project Horizon, that will last approximately 10 years and invest billions of dollars in construction.

Project Horizon will result in the renewal or renovation of virtually all clinical care and support areas of the hospital.

"Today we celebrated with our SickKids 'Catalyst' and 'Groundbreakers' donors – those who have put a stake in the ground with a commitment of over $1 million towards building a new SickKids," said Ted Garrard, Chief Executive Officer, SickKids Foundation. "These bold, forward-thinking individuals and organizations give our campaign momentum and inspire others to join the fight. Together, with their extraordinary support, a new SickKids will rise."

Construction of the Patient Support Centre (PSC) is being led by PCL Constructors. Once complete, the building will house SickKids Learning Institute, which supports over 1,000 world-class trainees, students and learners annually; a Simulation Centre for hands-on teaching; bright, modern workspace for professionals, management and support staff, as well as a variety of collaboration and activity spaces accessible to all staff from across the campus. The building itself will stand 22-storeys, and construction is expected to be completed in 2022.

According to architects B+H, the PSC will be the first project to comply with Toronto’s ­Tier 2 Building Standards. It will feature terraced green roofs contribute to the building’s sustainability and offer physicians and hospital staff further opportunities to engage with the city.

“The design of the new Patient Support Centre provides an important architectural framework for a workplace environment designed to transform the way SickKids works,” said Patrick Fejér, project lead and senior design principal at B+H in a statement. “The PSC is being designed to create an inspiring environment that supports the needs of health-care providers, fosters collaboration and helps to accelerate innovation.”

Phase two of the project is the Peter Gilgan Family Patient Care Tower: a new acute-care hospital tower that will feature 144 new patient beds, 120 new critical care beds built as single-patient rooms, a new blood and marrow transplant unit with specialized ventilation systems, approximately 19 new operating suites, and a new, emergency department featuring 51 treatment spaces. Construction of that facility is expected to finish in 2029.

The final phase of Project Horizon will feature renovations to the atrium hospital building to support new and renovated outpatient clinics.

"We're truly thrilled to have reached this significant milestone in our campus transformation. Moments like these are not possible without the vision and support of our dedicated staff, government partners, donors and the community," says Dr. Ronald Cohn, President and CEO of SickKids at the groundbreaking. "As we build a new SickKids, we are defining a new approach to paediatric medicine using precision child health to diagnose and then treat our individual patients. Today, we celebrate a major step forward in our journey to transform care delivery for children."