The Ministry of Health is now reviewing Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare's submission for the mental health bed expansion project.
The plan includes renovations for a 68 acute mental health bed expansion, an urgent psychiatric crisis service, the relocation of the inpatient rehabilitative care, and diagnostic imaging services.
The review of the plan is expected to take three to six months.
"I feel very confident, we've had so much support for this ever since this move started being looked at 10 years ago, this is what our community needs. We need a single point of access for mental health," said Dr. Andrea Steen, Chief of Staff and VP of Medical Affairs.
It could still be seven to eight years before the beds are moved and the urgent care space is opened.
"This is a really good long-term sustainable solution, but we need to do more in the interim, and there are some options available, it's really going to be a willingness from our partners at Ontario Health really want to set aside what we're doing today, to do things differently," said Bill Marra, president and CEO at Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare.