MSH Welcomes Premier Dalton McGuinty

 June 25, 2009

Markham Stouffville Hospital Corporation’s Markham site played host to the Premier today as he visited the hospital to make an announcement about our upcoming expansion.

Staff, physicians, volunteers and members of the senior team were all in attendance as the Premier announced a 35.5 million dollar capital planning and design grant for the hospital’s redevelopment.

“This hospital expansion means a boost to job creation in the short term, and a new foundation for economic growth with quality public service in the long term,” said Ontario Premier, Dalton McGuinty.

During his visit, the Premier reviewed renderings of the new building and learned about how the expansion would benefit the community.

“Today was an absolutely great day,” says Janet Beed, President and CEO of MSH. “To have the Premier come here and make the announcement of the planning grant is really an indication of the government’s commitment towards our expansion and towards helping meet the needs of our growing community.”

In addition to the staff, physicians and volunteers who came out for the announcement a number of high profile individuals were also on hand. This included Dr. Helena Jaczek, MPP for Oak-Ridges- Markham, Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti, representatives from the Central LHIN as well as senior leaders with Infrastructure Ontario.

“Markham Stouffville Hospital touches lives throughout our community, and the expansion will help the hospital deliver faster care, closer to home,”says Dr. Jaczek. “I want to thank everyone, especially the dedicated staff of MSH, who have helped move this very important project forward.”

The money awarded by the government today will go towards helping the hospital meet its shovel in the ground date in 2010.  Currently, the hospital is into the detailed design stage of the expansion and has created detailed designs of each of the floors and departments that will be in the new building. As well, renderings of the new building have been created.

MSH has also been very fortunate to have plenty of support for the expansion from all levels of government. Recently, we were granted site approval for our project by the Town of Markham, which was a great step in moving us forward to this stage.

“High quality health care is a vital part of the social and economic health of our community,” says Markham Mayor, Frank Scarpitti.  “We’ve been a strong supporter and promoter of the hospital expansion since its inception. This funding announcement brings us another step closer to making the hospital expansion a reality and Markham a stronger community. We congratulate the Ontario government for this generous contribution.”

This summer promises to be an exciting and busy one for our hospital as we begin the preliminary work to prepare for our new building. Keep checking the Expansion section of our website for updates on the project.