Downtown McMaster Health Campus gains City support

McMaster's plan for a new Health Campus in downtown Hamilton took
an important
step forward today when city councillors voted to support the project,
while
recommending the municipality invest in the plan.

“The overwhelming support of councillors is very much appreciated,”
says Patrick
Deane, McMaster's President. “We've worked hard to gain an
understanding of the city's
vision for healthier neighbourhoods and a renewed downtown. The
University's
proposed Health Campus is a dynamic catalyst to help achieve this
worthy vision.”

The proposed McMaster Health Campus would be located at the corner
of Main and
Bay streets in downtown Hamilton. The 217,000 square foot LEED
certified building
would be a hub of learning, caring and research.

McMaster's Department of Family Medicine and its family residency
training
program would be located there. The Campus would include a state-of-
the-art family
health clinic that would see 54,000 patient visits from across
Hamilton each year, and other
essential services such as the Hamilton Maternity Centre and the
Shelter Health
Network. The plan also includes locating Hamilton Public Health
clinics and offices at
the Campus, creating powerful links between McMaster's medical faculty
and Public
Health.

“More than 15,000 Hamiltonians who today are without a family
physician will have
doctors once the McMaster Health Campus is open,” says Dr. John
Kelton, vice-
president and dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences. “This Campus
will allow us to
provide spaces to train more family physicians and to attract more
doctors to our city.
This will be a family medicine hub where Hamiltonians can access
health professionals
from many backgrounds including nurse practitioners, dieticians,
physician assistants,
pharmacists, nurses, registered practical nurses, physiotherapists,
occupational
therapists and others. Through this expansion and in partnership with
the City,
Hamilton's goal for healthier neighbourhoods can be realized.”

More than 4,000 students would be served by the campus. These
students include
a mix of undergraduate, graduate and health sciences continuing
education
professionals. The University anticipates some 450 employees will be
based at the site.
Another 650 jobs would be created during design and construction.

On July 4, the City's General Issues Committee (which includes all
councillors)
endorsed the overall Campus plan. It also supported an initial
investment of $10-million
in the $105-million project. Councillors directed city staff to
continue discussions with
McMaster over the next month to finalize details on the remaining $10-
million city
investment. City staff will also complete a study to determine the
specific details about
relocating Public Health to the Campus.

The recommendation will now proceed for ratification by the City
Council later this
week.

President Deane and Dr. Kelton were joined by Roger Couldrey, vice-
president
Administration and Dr. David Price, chair of family medicine, in
presenting details of the
Campus to councillors. McMaster and its partners are investing $85-
million to the
project. The Campus requires a city investment of $20-million to
proceed.

The site at Main and Bay streets is owned by the Hamilton Wentworth
District
School Board. In March the school board declared the property surplus
and McMaster
continues its discussions with the board to complete the purchase of
the site. McMaster
requires space to accommodate increasing numbers of family medicine
residents. The
province of Ontario has provided funding for the expansion and spaces
must be
available by 2013.