Those who visit the site of Windsor-Essex's future acute care hospital will see some significant changes in 2026.
Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) provided additional details on the next phase of work on the Fancsy Family Hospital during a media event on Wednesday morning, one day after the hospital announced that it had opened a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the second phase of the three-phase construction.
Phase one of the project, a three-floor Education and Administrative Centre and a 700-vehicle parking garage, will begin construction this year on the northwest corner of the land, closest to County Road 2 and the Ninth Concession. Shovels will go in the ground sometime this summer.
WRH Vice President of Development Brandon Bailey said the campus construction is being divided into phases to keep bidding within reach of many companies.
"Because there may not be a suitor out there that could actually take on a project of that magnitude, splitting it up into smaller components ensures that we have multiple suitors and competitive pricing on each individual part," said Bailey. "We really want to ensure that we're driving for good value for money."
Bailey called Phase Two the "heart" of the facility. It will include the main public entrance and is currently planned as a five-storey Diagnostic and Treatment Block. It will include the new emergency department, Regional Cancer Services, surgery, Women's and Children's Services, Critical Care, Indigenous Services, spiritual care, and other amenities.
The third and final phase will be the nine-storey inpatient tower, which will house most of the inpatient beds. WRH President and CEO Karen Riddell said those beds will be in rooms that will all be completely private.
"Most of our rooms currently at Met and Ouellette are not private, which lends itself to not having a lot of privacy," said Riddell. "Being in a semi-private or a ward room, it does lend itself to infection control challenges."
The Request for Qualifications process, led by Infrastructure Ontario, invites contractors to bid on Phase Two. Bailey expects the entire procedure, from bids to awarding of contracts, to last into early 2027, as a review process must take place to narrow down suitable bidders.
