Toronto clinical tower’s timely completion

In an article first published in Canadian magazine, Canadian Healthcare Facilities, the editor of sister publication, Canadian Facility Management & Design, explains how the completion of a new a 17-storey clinical tower building – the second and largest phase of an ongoing $300 million multi-phase redevelopment at the St Michael’s Hospital in Toronto – was accelerated in the face of increasing demand in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic

A much-anticipated addition to St. Michael’s Hospital in downtown Toronto was fasttracked to keep pace with the pandemic. The Peter Gilgan Patient Care Tower was still in design mode in mid-March 2020, with patients expected to arrive in July that year – the tower itself slated for completion by summer’s end. A potential surge in coronavirus cases hung on the minds of hospital staff and contractors, who rushed to ready the fourth and seventh floors within weeks, making space for 33 singlepatient critical care rooms about three months ahead of schedule.

St. Michael’s Hospital is a Catholic teaching and research hospital founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1892 to care for the sick and poor of Toronto’s inner city. Affectionately known as the ‘Urban Angel’, it is renowned for exceptional patient care. As downtown Toronto’s adult trauma centre, the hospital is a hub for neurosurgery, complex cardiac and cardiovascular care, diabetes and osteoporosis care, minimally invasive surgery, and care of the homeless and disadvantaged. St. Michael’s is also one of the province’s major sites of care for critically ill patients.