Ontario Construction News staff writer
Orlando Corporation is donating $50 million toย Scarborough Health Networkโs (SHN) Birchmount Hospital and $25 million to the University of Torontoโs Scarborough Academy of Medicine and Integrated Health (SAMIH).
โThis donation is momentous for Scarborough Health Network, and is the largest gift in our history,โ said SHN Foundation President and CEOย Aliciaย Vandermeer. โWe are incredibly grateful to Orlando Corporation for investing in equitable health care for our diverse community.โ
The $50-million gift will help fund the Birchmount Hospital redevelopment and create the Orlando Corporation Emergency Department. It will also improve access to mental health care, by creating the Orlando Corporation Mental Health Centre of Excellence across SHN.
โEvery resident in Scarborough and the Eastern GTA deserves to live a healthy life and to have access to excellent health care whenever they need it,โ said Orlando Corporation Presidentย Blair Wolk. โThe Scarborough Health Network and the University of Toronto are two institutions that can help make this goal a reality and weโre pleased to be able to support them.”
Expansion of the Birchmount Hospital is the largest redevelopment in SHN history and will feature a new patient care tower. The new tower will be a dramatic expansion in Scarborough, meeting the growing demands of the community by significantly increasing the capacity for patient care.
The Orlando Corporation Emergency Department will be part of SHNโs no-wait emergency department, placing a physician at the front of the house. This is a new face for Birchmount Hospital that will more than double the number of beds and ensure timely access to emergency care.
The new Orlando Corporation Mental Health Centre of Excellence at SHN will support the mandate to focus on a recovery-oriented model of care by making possible critical improvements to infrastructure inside hospitals, which will in turn support programming needs in the community. This Centre of Excellence will position SHN as a leader in compassionate and culturally sensitive mental health care.
The Government of Ontario has announced $1.2 billion to the redevelopment and a portion of Orlando Corporationโs $50-million gift will match donations from the community dollar-for-dollar..
Orlandoโs $25-million donation to the University of Toronto will go to construction of a new building at U of T Scarborough that will be equipped with the state-of-the-art facilities necessary for theย Scarborough Academyโs advanced health training programs. Also, $10 million of the companyโs $25-million gift to U of T is a pledge to match donations from the community to support the construction of SAMIH.
SAMIH is expected to attract students from Scarborough and the Eastern GTA, including individuals who reflect the regionโs diverse community, and will provide local professional clinical experience that will encourage them to establish their careers in the area.
Orlando Corporation is Canadaโs largest privately owned industrial real estate developer, founded 70 years ago.