Grand River and St. Mary's hospitals look to merge by next spring

Grand River Hospitaland St. Mary's General Hospital have plans to merge.

The hospitals are in the process of putting together the details of the merger to discuss it with the province's Ministry of Health.

St. Mary's board of trustees chairTim Rollinssaid the reason for the proposed merger is to provide patients with faster and better access to care.

"The population growth within the community and the aging population, they're going to continue to put pressures on the healthcare system that is already under pressure,"Rollins told CBC News Wednesday.

"We believe coming together now will enable us to set the foundation for future innovation working together and ensure better care and better outcomes for this community for generations to come."

Grand River board chair Sandra Hanmersaid the merger will combine the hospitals' strengths for healthcare workers to deliver better care. It will also help retain more staff.

"For the staff, it will give them additionalsupports. We are sorely needing healthcare practitioners within our community and by being together, we are hopeful this will help us attract and retain the best and the brightest in our community," she told CBC News.

The hospitals currently have had joint collaborations including shared clinical support services, a shared information system and COVID-19 responses.

The two hospitals are also working together on a plan for a new regional hospital.

The hospitalsreceived input from staff, physicians and patients last fall about a potential merger.

The merger of the hospitals still has to be approved by theOntario Ministry of Health. Rollinsand Hamner said the hospitalsplan to submit a business plan to the ministry by September.

They saidthere will also be community consultation on the plan later this spring.

The name ofthe new organization is expected to be decided later in theplanning processbased on community and hospital staff input.

A spokesperson for St. Mary's General Hospital said the hospital will not be Catholic under the merger.

"The St. Mary's site will continue to provide acute care services under the governance of the planned merged organization, but not as a Catholic acute care hospital," the spokesperson said in an email to CBC News.

If approved, the beginning stages oftransitioning to one organization is expected to take one year and could launch as early as spring 2025.

The Morning Edition - K-W7:56Grand River and St. Mary's hospitals look to merge by next spring

Two hospitals in the region are looking to become one organization by next spring. We'll hear from officials with St. Mary's and Grand River Hospitals about why they want to merge and how this will improve patient care.