North Bay hospital getting new, 40-bed satellite site at Cartier Street

New funding for North Bay hospital A 16-bed expansion at the hospital in North Bay will go toward a Cartier Street site that helps people transition to long-term care.

The province announced Friday funding for a new 40-bed alternate hospital facility in North Bay, adding 16 new beds.

The North Bay Regional Health Centre will open a renovated facility located at 111 Cartier St., at a cost of $9.8 million.

The province will be investing $7.3 million to support this expansion.

In addition, the hospital will also be receiving $6.1 million in one-time funding.

"This funding assists with the alternate level of care transition as well as the alternate hospital facility transition," the hospital said in a news release Friday.

"This investment will continue to improve access, expand capacity, and decrease wait times, better supporting the needs of families."

"When people are transitioning out of the hospital and don’t yet have a place to go to, like a long-term care or retirement home, this is their stop-over point," said Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli.

"These additional beds will increase capacity and improve access to care, ensuring even more people in the North Bay region are provided with the right care, in the right place."

Hospital president and CEO Paul Heinrich said the new site and additional beds will improve access to care for patients, while also relieving some of the ongoing bed pressures facing the hospital.

"It takes a whole community of providers to make sure that we manage bed flow," Heinrich said.

"So, you know, part of the solution is our long-term care homes. Home care services need to be invested in. So it isn't just about the hospital, but we play an important part."

The Cartier site is an alternate hospital facility that provides people who no longer require hospital care with specialized services as they transition from a hospital to a long-term care home, retirement home or other post-acute services.

The additional beds will bring North Bay Regional Health Centre’s number of beds to 489.