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New OTMH: a dream becomes reality as of Sunday by David Lea Oakville Beaver Staff 3 | Thursday, December 10, 2015 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com After more than a decade of planning, four years of construction and months of preparation, the new Oakville hospital will open its doors to patients on Sunday (Dec. 13). At 6 a.m. that day, the hospital at 327 Reynolds St., will permanently close, including the Emergency Department. At that same time, the Emergency Department at the new Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital at 3001 Hospital Gate (Third Line and Dundas Street) will open. All in-patients, now in hospital on Reynolds Street, will be moved to the $2.7 billion facility on Dec. 13. Halton Healthcare Services (HHS) staff expect to see higher-than-average patient visits in the new Emergency Department after it opens and say this may impact patient wait times. The 1.6 million-square-foot facility will feature up to 457 in-patient beds on opening day. This represents an increase of 135 beds from the current hospital. The new hospital will offer a full range of health services, including maternal and childcare, critical care, emergency care, surgery, complex continuing care, The new Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital is pictured during its construction. The facility is set to open for business this Sunday (Dec. 13). The Emergency Department will open to patients at 6 a.m. -- simultaneously as the former Reynolds Street hospital's Emergency closes. | Oakville Beaver file photo rehabilitation, diagnostics, ambulatory care and a variety of support services. The facility also features enhanced patient privacy and infection-prevention measures, including 80 per cent single-patient rooms. This additional room also means there is more opportunity for a patient's family members to remain overnight. The hospital is also equipped with three MRIs, two CT scanners, its own helipad, an ambulance bay and more. The new facility will open with 24 dialysis stations -- the same number as in the existing hospital -- this figure is expected to grow about a month after the hospital opens with staffing levels increasing to match. The new hospital has the capacity to increase that number of dialysis stations to 57, as needed. For the many future lectures and conferences ahead, the John Oliver Auditorium, named after the former president and CEO of HHS, who is now the Oakville MP , is ready with 200 fixed seats and 200 loose seats in place. There are 2,100 parking spaces including 1,180 in a six-level parking structure at 3001 Hospital Gate. The building's cafeteria also offers 400 indoor seats and 60 outdoor seats. Much of the medical equipment inside the hospital is there courtesy of the Oakville Hospital Foundation, which recently announced it had succeeded in raising $65 million from the community to purchase the more than 30,000 pieces of new medical equipment and technology needed to open the facility. The Town of Oakville also did its part contributing $130 million to make the hospital a reality. 4th Annual Noon Year's Eve Celebration Thursday, December 31st 11am - 1pm Ages 6-12 Bling in the New Year RESERVE YOUR CHRISTMAS PARTY TODAY OAKVILLE 146 Lakeshore Rd. W. 905.338.6333 MONDAY TO SUNDAY 7AM TO 3PM Book online or call 905.842.7465 | prettyinpinkspa.com Don't just think about retirement. Plan for it.