The Ontario government has announced it will invest as much as $96 million to build a new Collingwood General and Marine Hospital.

“Our investment to help build a new and improved Collingwood General and Marine Hospital will allow people and families in Collingwood and across South Georgian Bay to have better access to high-quality care in the community, for generations to come,” said Health Minister Sylvia Jones.

The new funding is in addition to the over $15.5 million investment previously provided by the province to support the early planning for the redevelopment of Collingwood General and Marine Hospital.

Detailed planning for a replacement hospital on a new site will create a larger, state-of-the-art space to expand services and ensure the hospital can continue to meet the needs of the rapidly growing community into the future.

Once opened, the new hospital will include: increased capacity, including up to 132 new beds with 98 total inpatient beds and an additional 34 beds to meet the community's future needs, enhanced infection prevention and control measures to ensure the health and safety of all patients, and expanded access to key services, including intensive care, emergency, diagnostic imaging and operating suites.

The ministry will work with Collingwood General and Marine Hospital to complete detailed planning and design for this project. A construction schedule will be confirmed once future planning is complete and the project is tendered and awarded.

The Collingwood General and Marine Hospital is an 84-bed facility serving more than 74,000 residents and 3.5 million annual visitors to the communities of Wasaga Beach, Collingwood, Clearview and the Blue Mountains.