New Health-Care Facility Brings Connected and Convenient Care Closer to Home
PICKERING, ON - February 23, 2024 – Community members, staff, local leaders, and generous donors celebrated the historic grand opening of the Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness Centre today. The four-storey, 67,000 square foot Centre, developed through a partnership between Lakeridge Health and Northwest Healthcare Properties REIT (Northwest), was made possible by the generous support of the late Jerry Coughlan and other donors, as well as support from the Ontario government.
The Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness Centre offers connected health-care services under one roof in Pickering, marking a significant leap forward bringing high-quality, state-of-the-art care closer to home for the rapidly expanding communities within Durham Region.
A highlight of the Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness Centre is the new Surgical Centre operated by Lakeridge Health. Opening in Spring 2024, it features four operating rooms and is projected to complete more than 9,000 surgical cases annually. The Surgical Centre will help reduce pressures on the Lakeridge Health system by shifting day surgeries to this state-of-the-art outpatient centre and enable hospital operating rooms to focus on more complex procedures.
The growing Durham Region has a broad spectrum of health-care needs, and the many providers at the Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness Centre will increase access to vital community care services. Other key health-care services being offered in the Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness Centre include:
- Lakeridge Health’s Assertive Community Treatment Team (ACTT): This unique, community-based mental health program provides direct treatment, rehabilitation, and support services to adults with severe and persistent mental illness.
- Lakeridge Health’s Central East Prehospital Care Program (CEPCP): Also known as the “Base Hospital,” the CEPCP provides continuing medical education to paramedics and other prehospital care providers in the Durham Region.
- Primary Care and Urgent Care: Operated by family physicians from the North Durham Family Health Organization, Durham Region residents will have access to family medicine services and an Urgent Care Clinic, delivering a comprehensive range of urgent care services that, in time, will exceed the limitations of traditional walk-in clinics.
- Laboratory Services: The LifeLabs Patient Service Center will significantly enhance healthcare access in the Durham region, providing a wide array of services including thousands of general diagnostic tests, genetic testing, naturopathic testing and heart monitoring.
- Diagnostic Imaging: Further demonstrating the Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness Centre as a health-care “hub,” the EXR Medical Imaging Clinic will provide a wide range of radiology services, including x-ray, ultrasound, fluoroscopy, bone mineral density, and mammography.
- Specialist Physicians: The Centre is also home to highly skilled and experienced Obstetrician/Gynaecologists dedicated to women’s health, diagnosing and treating a wide range of conditions, as well as a specialist Plastic Surgeon who uses the latest advanced techniques to meet the individual needs of each patient.
The innovative partnership between Lakeridge Health and Northwest, the leading developer, owner, and manager of health-care real estate in Canada and globally, enabled the design and development of this state-of-the-art ambulatory medical building. Under this partnership, Northwest serves as the building's owner and manager, leasing medical space to physicians and health-care providers, including Lakeridge Health as the anchor tenant.
The Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness Centre is named in honour of the late Jerry Coughlan, a local philanthropist and community-builder. His significant contribution of $10 million to Lakeridge Health through the Ajax Pickering Hospital Foundation and Lakeridge Health Foundation made the Centre possible. The Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness is a testament to Jerry Coughlan’s vision and commitment to improve health-care access for the community he helped build.
We are also very grateful to the Ministry of Health and Ontario Health for providing critical funding for additional surgical procedures across Lakeridge Health, which includes procedures at the new Surgical Centre within the Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness Centre. This investment will enable Lakeridge Health to meet the growing demand for surgeries, reduce surgical wait times, and provide more patients throughout the Durham Region with the surgical procedures they need.
Additionally, Pickering Mayor Kevin Ashe and Pickering City Council played a vital role in advancing Lakeridge Health’s programs by directly funding the purchase of audio-visual equipment for the Base Hospital, hosting a very successful Pickering Mayor’s Gala that funded all of the furniture for the ACTT, as well as supporting the Ajax Pickering Hospital Foundation’s Mayors’ Charity Golf Classic that supported the purchase of multiple pieces of equipment.
To express gratitude to donors large and small, the Ajax Pickering Hospital Foundation will celebrate donors on recognition plaques installed on Lakeridge Health’s spaces on the third and fourth floors within the building, acknowledging their pivotal role in making those spaces at the Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness Centre a reality.
Quotes
“We’re so excited to officially open the Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness Centre. We believe this new Centre will not only increase access to vital community services for Durham Region –one of the fastest growing areas in Ontario – but also nurture a healthier community for generations to come. The Centre’s new state-of-the-art Surgical Centre, its community-based mental health service offerings, and the numerous clinical education programs will help to increase Lakeridge Health’s footprint as one the broadest and most comprehensive, diverse regional health systems in Ontario.”
- Cordelia Clarke Julien, Chair of the Board of Trustees, Lakeridge Health
“The grand opening of the Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness Centre marks a milestone in Northwest’s journey toward redefining health-care infrastructure. This building stands as a symbol of the transformative possibilities we can achieve through trusted and collaborative partnerships with health-care leaders like Lakeridge Health. We are proud to have played a part in the development of a state-of-the-art health-care centre that will contribute to the highest standard of healthcare in the local community and enable our tenant partners to deliver critical health services where they're needed most.”
- Dave Casimiro, Managing Director of North America, Northwest Healthcare Properties REIT
"The Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness Centre stands as a testament to community support and accessible healthcare for Pickering and the surrounding region. This state-of-the-art facility will offer our residents a wide range of services, from day surgeries to urgent care. It's a commitment to providing connected, convenient care, enhancing patient experiences, and building a healthier future for all."
- The Honourable Peter Bethlenfalvy, Ontario’s Minister of Finance and MPP for Pickering-Uxbridge
“Philanthropy is so much more than giving money. It’s about unselfishly believing in a better tomorrow for others and giving back in ways that truly transform the health and well-being of the community. Jerry’s generosity to the Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness Centre will positively impact the health of thousands of people in our community, people he never had the chance to meet and some of whom haven’t even been born yet! What better legacy could one ask for?”
- Victor Sgro, Chair of the Board, Ajax Pickering Hospital Foundation
“The opening of the Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness Centre is a dream day. It does come with a bittersweet feeling, as the generous donor, Jerry, is not here to see this building of excellence. Jerry was a man of vision, but also very practical; he knew that the primal need of housing would only be matched with the primal need for health care for the families that lived in each home. Without health we cannot be who we were meant to be. Today, Jerry Coughlan has once again left us better than he found us. It is now our turn to continue in the legacy he started and give to our region’s health-care system.”
- Lyn Dunlop-Coughlan, Jerry Coughlan’s wife
“On behalf of the City of Pickering and its Members of Council, we are thrilled with the grand opening of the Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness Centre. This state-of-the-art facility will not only provide essential health-care services to the residents of Pickering and our growing communities in Durham Region, but it will also ease the burden on our healthcare system, while honouring the legacy of the late philanthropist, Jerry Coughlan.”
- Kevin Ashe, Mayor of Pickering
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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 soon-to-open 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.
About Ajax Pickering Hospital Foundation
The Ajax Pickering Hospital Foundation strives to help save lives, restore health and provide compassionate care by raising funds that directly benefit patients at Ajax Pickering Hospital and the Jerry Coughlan Health & Wellness Centre, as well as the residents of Lakeridge Gardens Long-Term Care Home.
About Northwest Healthcare Properties REIT
Founded in 2004 and publicly traded since 2010, Northwest Healthcare Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX: NWH.UN) is a pure-play, long-term owner, asset manager, and developer for ownership of healthcare properties in key strategic markets. The REIT owns and manages a diversified portfolio of income-producing hospitals, medical office buildings and healthcare facilities in Europe, the Americas and Australasia. With a fully integrated and aligned senior management team, Northwest has a strong record of creating value through long-term real estate partnerships with leading healthcare operators. Northwest is creating the next generation of assets to deliver high-quality facilities for our operating partners, and long-term earnings and value growth for Unitholders.
For media inquiries, please contact:
Sharon Navarro
Manager, Public Relations and Digital Communications
905-435-7889
snavarro@lh.ca
