North Bay’s two hospitals, St. Joseph’s General and North Bay Civic, merged boards of directors in 1995, long before other communities in the North saw hospital boards merge.
A new 265-bed general hospital costing $136 million has been approved for North Bay. The new facility that is scheduled to open in 2005 will have 151 acute-care beds, 29 rehabilitation beds, 42 complex continuing care beds and 30 acute/sub-acute beds. The hospital will also have a separate pavilion for long-term mental health with 26 forensic beds.
It is the only hospital site in the province that will combine a specialized mental health unit and an acute general hospital, says Pat Stephens, hospital spokeswoman.
The new hospital will be built adjacent to Canadore College and Nipissing University and will replace both St. Joseph’s and North Bay Civic.
The Northeast Mental Health Centre will cost $81.6 million and the acute mental health component will cost $7.9 million. The provincial government is paying the entire cost of these two facilities. The provincial government will also pay 70 per cent of the cost of the new general hospital, with 30 per cent being picked up by the community.
