Province breaks ground on expanded emergency department in Hamilton

Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones was in Hamilton Wednesday morning to mark the official groundbreaking on the new and expanded emergency department at Hamilton General Hospital.

Supported by a $25-million investment, the department will feature 8,500 square feet of additional emergency space to better serve the more than 50,000 visitors it receives annually.

The province says it has committed $64 billion to more than 50 major hospital projects over the next 10 years.

“We are excited to celebrate the groundbreaking of this new and expanded emergency department at Hamilton General Hospital, which, once complete, will bring vital emergency care capacity to the Hamilton region and help more families access the right care, in the right place, for generations to come,” Jones said.

The work is expected to be completed by 2030 and will include a larger ambulance off-loading area, a new triage/rapid assessment and observation area, as well as “improvements to existing facilities to improve care and reduce wait times for patients,” reads a statement from the province.

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Once completed, services in the emergency department will include:

• Upgraded resuscitation area to provide faster life-saving care for patients;
• Additional treatment rooms, nursing stations and staff work areas to help care teams serve more patients, faster;
• Improved patient navigation throughout the emergency department and between hospital services to reduce patient wait times;
• Better sightlines across patient care areas, supporting a safer and more patient-centred environment; and
• Enhanced infection prevention and control measures, including airborne isolation rooms.

Hamilton General Hospital is home to the regional trauma centre, serving 2.5 million people in the city and surrounding area.

The hospital has programs in cardiac, vascular, neurosurgical, stroke, trauma and burn care.

In 2026-27, Hamilton Health Sciences received $8,156,838 million through the province’s Health Infrastructure Renewal Fund, to support the critical infrastructure needs of its hospitals.

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