Citing a regional population explosion, Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) officials want to try to fast-track the Innisfil portion of a $2.5-billion development plan.
Officials hope to bypass the regular planning process by using a ministerial zoning order (MZO) to rezone agricultural land in Innisfil so that it can be developed into a health hub and, eventually, a full-fledged hospital.
Last week, RVH announced a plan to build a health hub in 10 years and a hospital with beds in 20 years for its new south campus on 83 acres at the southwest corner of Innisfil Beach Road and Yonge Street. That will be done in tandem with the expansion of the existing hospital on Georgian Drive in north-end Barrie.
“Next week, we will be going to the Town of Innisfil public meeting to make a presentation on the land we’ve chosen… and to ask the town to request the government for an MZO,” said RVH president Janice Skot. “The land that we purchased is agricultural land and if we want to create certainty around the development of our health hub and eventual hospital, the land obviously has to be something we can build upon.
“It allows us to move through the Ministry of Health planning process at a better pace," she added.
An MZO is planning tool allowing the municipal affairs minister to authorize rezoning and establish all uses.
The process has been criticized because it can bypass the will of a municipality, excluding the public debate process and provides no appeal opportunities by municipalities, citizens or environmental groups.
Leo DeLoyde, Innisfil’s director of growth, expects that RVH can save “a couple of years” if the MZO is granted.
RVH has requested that Innisfil council draft a letter to endorse an MZO for the property and it has provided a planning rationale report.
“Our head planner and planning department is preparing a report that will address what is being requested,” said DeLoyde, adding town council knows the request is coming. “The MZO will accelerate the approval for the community health hub.”
The normal process would have RVH apply to the town for zoning and Official Plan amendments to allow the proposed uses, which include public meetings. DeLoyde said those could take some time because it’s largely agricultural, adding that it’s “a picture-perfect location for a hospital and a health hub.”
Meanwhile, Skot said a comprehensive report with 10 technical experts indicate “that this is absolutely the best location for our future south campus.”
With the MZO, Skot says RVH will then be able to get into the queue with the Ministry of Health and move on from its pre-capital budget onto the health ministry’s capital planning branch.
“The key issue here is the population explosion,” said Skot, pointing to growth in the region stretching from Innisfil, Barrie and Oro-Medonte Township, which is expected to double in the next two decades.
“This is really the only regional hospital in the entire area," she added.
Innisfil is expected to grow by 74,000 people and 173,000 people in a wider area including Barrie and Springwater Township in 20 years.
The Alcona community in Innisfil is one of five designated growth areas in Simcoe County, outside of Barrie and Orillia.
“It takes a long time to plan hospitals and ensure they’re built properly, so we need to get started,” said Skot.
Finding the land has been a three-year process, she added.
A site-selection committee and consultants examined potential properties against a list of 23 required criteria which led the board to hone in and choose the eventual site. A report with 10 consultants examined critical aspects of the area such as air, noise and soil, concluding that the land was indeed developable for a hospital.
“That’s been a huge part of our focus for the last three years,” she said. “There’s been a lot of work behind it that allowed us to get to this point.”
In addition, Skot said there was extensive community consultations before the site selection.
Some of the advantages of the chosen site include the nearby civic campus and the Rizzardo Health & Wellness Centre, where RVH rents 5,000 square feet, the planned development of a GO train station seven kilometres away, and an existing GO bus line from Barrie.
Innisfil Beach Road and Yonge Street will both be expanded to four lanes within the next decade, which is in line with the completion plans for water and sewer servicing to the site.
