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Building a new hospital in Waterloo Region is a critical investment that will bring much-needed expanded capacity to deliver the best healthcare for regional residents. With Waterloo Region growing faster than many parts of the province, increasing hospital capacity and modernizing facilities is key to supporting that growth.
Since partnering together to begin planning new and upgraded hospital buildings four years ago, the Waterloo Regional Health Network’s (WRHN) legacy organizations – St. Mary’s General Hospital and Grand River Hospital – have worked hard to get Waterloo Region’s New Hospital built as quickly as possible.
Amid rising costs and a shortage of tradespeople, Ontario is changing how hospitals are built and WRHN, in partnership with the Provincial Government, is leading the way to deliver critical health infrastructure with wins early and often. One of the new changes requires all buildings to be under 900,000 square feet. With this change, Waterloo Region’s new hospital (WRHN @ The University) will be built in three phases, known as 1A, 1B, and 1C.
“Since submitting our original Redevelopment Program Master Plan to the Provincial Government in 2022, there have been changes to the way Ontario is building hospitals, given the economy and a changing construction landscape,” says Ron Gagnon, President and CEO, WRHN. “WRHN is grateful to the Provincial Government for the $15 million in capital planning grants to ensure our work continues uninterrupted, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Infrastructure Ontario.
Over the past year, in partnership with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Infrastructure Ontario (IO), Waterloo Regional Health Network’s (WRHN) continued its aggressive plan for building a new hospital.
WRHN, with the input of the communities we serve – including WRHN team members, physicians, volunteers, patients and family partners, and community members – is working to ensure Waterloo Region gets the hospital it needs as quickly as possible.
“Our WRHN @ The University plan allows us to build faster and bring hospital beds online sooner. The first building will serve patients as soon as it is opened,” explained Gagnon. “Our approach supports the Provincial Government’s priority to invest in healthcare, in prosperity, and in the long-term wellbeing of the province.”
On October 9, 2026, WRHN resubmitted the Ministry of Health required Stage 1.3 Functional Program for WRHN @ The University to reflect the Government’s new changes.
WRHN has also officially welcomed Kate Traianopoulos as the next Vice President of Redevelopment and Facilities, with the retirement of outgoing Vice President, Cliff Harvey. Having spent the last two decades building hospitals and other projects at Infrastructure Ontario, Kate is highly qualified to lead WRHN’s facilities portfolio and redevelopment program, including the planning of Waterloo Region’s new hospital and redeveloping and expanding our existing sites, @ Midtown and @ Chicopee.
“WRHN is fortunate to welcome Kate from Infrastructure Ontario to guide our Redevelopment Program, including the new hospital,” noted Ron. “We are prepared to move to the next stage with an approved Stage 1.3 (Functional Program) by Ministry of Health (MOH), and approval of Stage 1.5 (Financial Support) by Treasury Board.”