Kincardine council hears that hospital redevelopment project set to start next spring

By: Liz Dadson July 15, 2026 445

Kincardine council hears that hospital redevelopment project set to start next spring

With approval from the Ontario government, construction of the Kincardine hospital redevelopment project should be under way by next spring.

That's the word from Nancy Shaw, president and chief executive officer of the South Bruce Grey Health Centre, which operates hospitals in Kincardine, Walkerton, Chesley and Durham, in an update to Kincardine council at the meeting Wednesday night (July 8).

Shaw also showed council several artist's renderings and site plans of how the newly-renovated and expanded departments will look, including Diagnostic Imaging, the Emergency Department and the Laboratory Department.

She said the project timeline indicates that a cost estimation will be drawn up in September and submitted to the Ontario Ministry of Health. The tender is expected to be issued by the end of December, with the contract awarded by April 13, 2027, and construction under way by May 11, 2027. The project close-out date is Jan. 29, 2030.

Shaw said the parking configuration will be different than what is there now, with a new main entrance, and a secondary emergency entrance which features a separate entry for ambulances directly into the emergency room. There will also be an outdoor court adjacent to the main entrance.

She outlined the additional space for each of the three departments, noting it will be bigger and brighter. She also emphasized that the Kincardine Hospital's emergency room is the busiest of all four hospital sites.

Councillor Bill Stewart thanked Shaw for the detailed presentation and asked how many doctors are working the emergency department, per shift, right now.

Shaw said there is currently one doctor per shift in the emergency room.

"I'm concerned about that," said Stewart. "This will be a larger space and you said our hospital has the busiest emergency department. Perhaps we should have two doctors per shift? It's going to be a beautiful new space, we may as well use it."

"You're right," said Shaw. "There are people without a doctor who go to the emergency room. We have back-up doctors who are called in when things get congested. However, it's the Kincardine Physicians Group that determines the staffing at the hospital."

In response to a question from council about how the hospital will be managed during construction, Shaw said the project will be done in phases.

"We are working through that right now," she said. "Once we have that plan in place, we will communicate it to the public. There will be several temporary entrances for various departments. We will be ready to roll that out next April."

Murray Elston, a member of the Kincardine Hospital capital campaign committee, told council that the original fund-raising goal for the $80-million project was $12-million but that was increased to $18-million with the approval of a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine. To date, about $14.5-million has been raised with another $3.5-million to go before April, 2027.

"This is a good, strong community that's committed to this project," he said. "We've had great co-operation from local businesses and municipalities, and we look forward to reaching our goal."