Niagara Health marks one year of construction on South Niagara Hospital
Niagara Health announced on July 18 that construction work on the new South Niagara Hospital (SNH) has been officially underway for a year.
Since then, crews with EllisDon Infrastructure Healthcare (EDIH) have made significant progress on construction of the facility.
Excavation for the foundation and basement level is complete, including the insertion of more than 1,250 steel piles into the bedrock to support the building foundation. The building’s elevator shafts and stairwells are taking shape, and the majority of the site services have been completed, including waterlines, stormwater and sanitary sewers.
In May, construction moved above ground level as work began on the superstructure. Crews are currently working on the first three floors of the building. The finished building will stand 12 storeys tall.
On average, there are more than 200 workers on-site each day, and in time it is anticipated that more than 1,000 skilled labourers will be working daily during peak construction periods. To date, many of these workers have been from the region’s subcontractors.
“We are very proud of our Niagara Health teams and the crews working on this project for reaching this exciting milestone,” said Niagara Health President and CEO Lynn Guerriero. “Our partners at EllisDon Infrastructure Healthcare have accomplished so much in the last year.”
Behind-the-scenes, Niagara Health staff have been working closely with partners at EDIH and Infrastructure Ontario to finalize the hospital design.
“As we hit the one-year milestone of the groundbreaking on the South Niagara Hospital project, it’s thrilling to see the progress the team has made,” said Andrew Anderson, EllisDon’s Senior Vice President & Area Manager for Toronto. “Not only does it show everyone’s hard work and drive, but it also showcases our dedication to teamwork and partnership with Niagara Health and other fellow partners on site. With above-ground work starting in May, the positive changes seen are both visible and exciting for our project teams, and we look forward to building on this momentum by working with our amazing partners at Niagara Health to bring the community of Niagara a new 12-storey modernized hospital.”
Since February 2023, hundreds of staff, physicians and patient and community partners have spent more than 4,500 hours working together with Niagara Health’s redevelopment team to put the finishing touches on the hospital design.
The hospital says this process will be complete in the fall, and will include feedback received during high-fidelity room mock-ups, where eight rooms from the SNH have been built to scale with real furniture, fixtures, finishes and equipment.
Located in Niagara Falls at the corner of Montrose and Biggar roads, the South Niagara Hospital Project is on track for completion in 2028.
It will offer a full scope of hospital services, including emergency, critical care, diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical services, and feature centres of excellence in complex care, wellness in aging and stroke. The building will also feature an Indigenous healing space and garden, co-designed with Indigenous partners.
Niagara Health is also working towards making the SNH the first WELL-certified hospital in Canada, as a building that incorporates design elements that focus on the health and well-being of people working in, and using, the facility.