Designers Stantec announced on November 24 that they will provide planning, design and conformance services for the new South Niagara Hospital in Niagara Falls.

Having previously completed the campus plan for Niagara Health, the company’s healthcare team will now provide the illustrative schematic design, as well as detailed output specifications for the full range of design and construction requirements. Stantec will also evaluate conformance to design and construction requirements for the new state-of-the-art hospital.

“In designing South Niagara Hospital, our team will deploy the latest best practices in healthcare design to create a welcoming, sustainable, and efficient facility for the residents of Niagara Falls and the surrounding area,” said John Steven, senior principal for Stantec’s Health sector. “The current pandemic has underlined the need to expand capacity and access to critical healthcare services within our existing health systems. We’re excited to continue our work with Niagara Health to support the health and well-being of the community.”

Located at the intersection of Biggar Road and Montrose Road in Niagara Falls, just off the Queen Elizabeth Way, the new South Niagara Hospital project will centralize services from a number of existing facilities. The building itself will span 1.3 million square feet on a 49.8-acre site.

The facility is currently proposed to be a 470-bed, full acute care hospital featuring centres of excellence specializing in stroke, complex care, geriatric and psychogeriatrics, and wellness in aging. It will also include a 24/7 emergency department and services for critical care, surgical, mental health and addiction, kidney care and dialysis, and testing and research.

The new South Niagara Hospital will be designed and built to achieve LEED Silver certification. The project is also working toward being the first WELL-certified healthcare facility in Canada. Designing to WELL standards prioritizes the health and well-being of the staff, patients, and visitors by focusing on 10 concepts: air, water, nourishment, light, movement, thermal comfort, sound, materials, mind, and community.

Scheduled to be operational in 2027, South Niagara will greatly expand access to world-class healthcare treatment for the community and regional residents.

A request for qualifications for the public-private partnership is expected to be released next winter, with a request for proposals to follow later that year. Construction is targeted to begin in the fall of 2022. No project budget has been announced, but the latest P3 Market Update document from Infrastructure Ontario suggests the project is valued at more than $1 billion.