ONTARIO 🍁⚕️💵 Ontario Breaks Ground on Expanded Emergency Department in Renfrew County

Sunday, 04 May 2025 10:36.AM

- Largest redevelopment in St. Francis Memorial Hospital’s history will protect provincial health care and connect more people to quality emergency care close to home -

Construction is underway to expand St. Francis Memorial Hospital’s (SFMH) emergency department and renovate the ambulatory care clinic, making it faster and easier for more people in Renfrew County and surrounding areas to connect to emergency and ambulatory care closer to home.

“Our government is protecting Ontario’s health care system and ensuring that more people in Renfrew County can connect to convenient emergency care, where and when they need it most,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “By investing in a new and expanded St. Francis Memorial Hospital emergency department, we are making it faster and easier for more people and their families to access high-quality emergency and ambulatory care in their community, for years to come.”

The province is investing over $18.6 million to support the largest redevelopment in St. Francis Memorial Hospital’s history, which includes renovating the hospital’s ambulatory care clinic and expanding its emergency department by adding approximately 6,000 square feet to the hospital. The expanded emergency department will be connected to the existing hospital and offer a dedicated, convenient entrance with a separate waiting room. This redevelopment will allow more patients and their families to connect to timely and high-quality emergency and ambulatory care in a modernized and more comfortable setting.

Once opened, the new state-of-the-art emergency department will accommodate an estimated 11,900 visits each year and will include:
• A dedicated isolation room equipped with negative air pressure to keep patients safe by preventing the spread of airborne infectious diseases
• A new entrance for ambulances to use, improving patient flow
• Quiet room space for mental health patients and families
• An upgraded trauma area to ensure timely responses to emergencies
• Improved infection prevention and control measures

“We are delighted to see the Province of Ontario’s investment in a key community asset in the St. Francis Memorial Hospital Emergency Department and renovation of the Ambulatory Care Clinic,” said Billy Denault, MPP for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke. “This is another example of our government’s commitment to protecting Ontario’s health care and connecting people where it matters most.”

People will continue to have 24/7 access to the emergency department while construction is underway, with construction expected to be completed in March 2027.

Through Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the Ontario government is expanding and modernizing Ontario’s hospitals, making it faster and easier for people of all ages to connect to the high-quality care they need, where and when they need it.

Quick Facts

• St. Francis Memorial Hospital is a 20-bed community hospital located in the village of Barry’s Bay, serving approximately 10,000 people living in Renfrew County, and South Algonquin Township in the District of Nipissing and Algonquin Park. As the only emergency department between Pembroke and Huntsville, SFMH sees more than 11,000 ED visits and over 6,000 ambulatory care visits a year.
• Over the next 10 years, Ontario’s investments will lead to nearly $50 billion in health infrastructure across the province, building 3,000 new beds in addition to over 3,500 critical care, acute and post-acute beds our government has added since 2020.
• Through Your Health, Ontario is getting shovels in the ground for over 50 hospital developments across the province.
• The Ontario government invested more than $228 million in 2024-25 to support critical infrastructure upgrades and repairs at 129 hospitals and 58 community health care facilities across the province, a 10 per cent increase from the previous year. In 2024-25, SFMH received an allocation of $1,313,547 through the Health Infrastructure Renewal Fund, including $1,135,930 in one-time funding as an Exceptional Circumstance Project Grant, used towards strengthening the foundation of the hospital.

SOURCE: Ontario Ministry of Health