(Durham Region) – September 4, 2024, Lakeridge Health is proud to announce the official opening of the interim helipad in Bowmanville, a key milestone in the ongoing efforts to enhance health care for Durham Region.
For over 30 years, Bowmanville Hospital’s helipad was used to transfer critically ill patients to other acute care facilities. After it was closed in 2018 due to safety concerns, Lakeridge Health worked closely with Ornge, and various municipal, regional, provincial and federal partners to secure a new location, funding, and obtain the necessary approvals for an interim helipad for Bowmanville.
The Municipality of Clarington generously provided Lakeridge Health with access to its property at 1150 Haines Street for the interim helipad located less than five minutes away from the Bowmanville Hospital. This site has undergone comprehensive feasibility assessments and after successfully passing various rigorous safety tests, Transport Canada officially certified the site.
The opening of the interim helipad marks another significant milestone in Lakeridge Health’s mission to enhance patient care and ensure that the integrated, regional system of care meets the evolving needs of the people of Durham Region. This interim helipad will support emergency air transportation until the permanent rooftop helipad is completed, a key component of the Bowmanville Hospital redevelopment plan.
The redeveloped hospital will usher in a new era of health care in the Durham Region, featuring expanded critical care services, state-of-the-art facilities like an Ambulatory Care Centre and a Haemodialysis Centre, and a doubling of the hospital's size.
The interim helipad is one of many recent achievements in this redevelopment journey. Last month, the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) was issued to identify project teams with the expertise and capacity to design, construct, and finance this transformative project.
Lakeridge Health is excited to share this significant achievement with the community at a future event. Please stay tuned for upcoming details.
To learn more about the Bowmanville Hospital Redevelopment project, visit our website.
Quotes
"We’re incredibly grateful for the collaboration and continued support from the Municipality of Clarington, Ornge, and all our municipal, regional, provincial, and federal partners in making this interim helipad a reality. This milestone helps to ensure our community receives timely, life-saving care through enhanced emergency air transport services. The helipad represents a crucial part of the long-awaited Bowmanville Hospital redevelopment project which will transform health care in Durham Region, provide lasting benefits to future generations, and help us to truly achieve a comprehensive, integrated system of care that reflects our vision “One System. Best Health."
– Cynthia Davis, President and CEO, Lakeridge Health
"Re-establishing air ambulance service through the interim helipad is a significant milestone for our community. For over three decades, the Bowmanville Hospital's helipad has been a lifeline, ensuring critically ill patients receive the urgent care they need. This helipad ensures that, even during our redevelopment, we remain equipped to provide life-saving services to those who need it most. The Bowmanville Hospital's future is bright, and this interim helipad is just the beginning of a new era of health care in Durham Region. We extend our deepest gratitude to our donors and volunteers—without their support, this vital resource would not have been possible."
– Maria Petri, Interim Chief Executive Officer, Bowmanville Hospital Foundation
“Our government is ensuring people in Durham have access to the care they need, when they need it through our investment in Lakeridge’s Master Plan, including Bowmanville Hospital’s redevelopment. The new, interim helipad is the next milestone in building a stronger healthcare system across the region and will ensure patients can continue to receive the emergency air support they need as work on the redevelopment continues.”
– Hon. Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health
“The reopening of the helipad at the Bowmanville Hospital is the latest example of our government's commitment to providing excellent medical care across Ontario. This critical step will improve patient transfers and enhance emergency services for residents of Durham.”
– Hon. Todd McCarthy, Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement and MPP for Durham
“What an important breakthrough for emergency health care in our community. Reopening a Bowmanville helipad to transport critically ill and injured patients will save lives. Thank you to all of those who overcame the challenges of dealing with multiple agencies and faced frustration to make this much-needed helipad a reality. Our community is grateful for your dedication.”
– Adrian Foster, Mayor of Clarington
"This interim helipad will save critical transport time for patients, allowing them to receive the care they need, sooner. We were pleased to work with the team at Lakeridge Health to identify an appropriate site that ensures the safety of our patients, crew and aircraft.”
– Peter Cunnington, Chief Aviation Officer, Ornge
“Region of Durham Paramedic Services is thrilled about the official opening of the interim Bowmanville helipad. This exciting development will significantly improve access to emergency air transport services for the residents of Clarington and the Durham Region. It will help us deliver faster, more patient focused care to those in critical need, and we look forward to seeing the positive impact it will have on our Municipality."
– Troy Cheseboro, Chief Region of Durham Paramedic Services
About Lakeridge Health
With five hospitals, four emergency departments, three critical care units, a long-term care home, a full range of medical and surgical specialties, more than 20 community health-care locations and a state-of-the-art surgical centre within the Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness Centre, Lakeridge Health offers some of the broadest and most comprehensive acute care, ambulatory care, and long-term care services in Ontario.
Lakeridge Health is also home to several regional specialty centres and services, including the Central East Regional Cancer Program, R.S. McLaughlin Durham Regional Cancer Centre, The Shoulder Centre, and eye care and chronic kidney disease services. Additionally, we are proud to serve our community with a full suite of inpatient, ambulatory, and community-based mental health and addictions services, and provide safe, high-quality, compassionate care in our state-of-the-art long-term care home, Lakeridge Gardens.
Guided by our vision of One System. Best Health. and supported by a dedicated team of more than 8,700 staff, physicians, and volunteers, Lakeridge Health is a proud member of the Durham Ontario Health Team (Durham OHT) and works in collaboration with the Durham OHT, as well as primary care, and community and government partners to foster a truly integrated, regional system of care. Together, we are focused on empowering people to live their best health and fostering an accessible, inclusive, and equitable environment for all.
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For More Information:
Sharon Navarro
Manager, Public Relations
Lakeridge Health
905-453-7889
snavarro@lh.ca
