Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) is exploring options for the construction of a new four-storey, 119,000 sq. ft. healthcare services building on east side of its existing property in Barrie.
The building will provide office space for services such as primary care, specialists and other complementary health providers.
For this project with RVH, Northwest Healthcare Properties REIT, the company responsible for the construction, will lease the land, as well as fund and oversee the build. The offices will be constructed on an existing staff parking lot located on Gallie Court opposite RVH’s main building.
Northwest was also at the helm of the construction of the Barrie Primary Care Campus on Bayview Drive.
The project is currently in the pre-consultation stage, but estimates for completion of the building is 2029.
"Through a strategic partnership, we are exploring options for the construction of a new healthcare services building on existing RVH property," Gail Hunt, the hospital's president and CEO said in a news release. "Having this building in close proximity to RVH is an important part of creating healthcare infrastructure for the growing region.
“As the population of Barrie and the surrounding area continues to grow, there is a need for additional space to accommodate health services, whether they be primary care, specialists or other associated services such as physiotherapy,” Hunt says. “Through RVH’s partnership with Northwest to construct this building, we will be able to meet this need, building a comprehensive healthcare community around RVH for the benefit of patients locally and across the region.”
The announcement from RVH comes as Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall issued a mayoral direction on Thursday for City staff to rezone lands owned by for the purpose of fast-tracking hospital projects.
It's the 19th such move by Nuttall since the province expanded strong mayor powers to him and other mayors of similarly sized municipalities in July 2023, and his second of 2026.
The direction states that the subject lands be rezoned from their current classifications to either "Business Park with Special Provisions" or Major Institutional with Special Provisions." In his direction, Nuttall says that the refinements are meant to implement the City's Strategic Employment and Economic District (SEED) designation as it applies to RVH.
“As Barrie continues to grow, our healthcare infrastructure must grow with it,” Nuttall said in a release. “By removing barriers and working collaboratively with our partners, we are helping lay the groundwork for timely projects that will ensure residents can access the high-quality care they deserve, close to home.”
RVH recently acquired lands and buildings east of Gallie Court and south of Quarry Ridge Road, as well as additional lands north of Georgian Drive and West of Penetanguishene Road that could be used for expansion.
Those lands set to be rezoned include a collection of 10 municipal addresses:
- 201 Georgian Drive
- 348 Georgian Drive
- 1 Quarry Ridge Road
- 5 Quarry Ridge Road
- 31 Quarry Ridge Road
- 15 Gallie Court
- 135 Dunsmore Lane
- 145 Dunsmore Lane
- 366 Penetanguishene Road
- 384 Penetanguishene Road
“RVH is planning for the future with both patients and team members at top of mind," Hunt says. "As our region grows in population and the demand for healthcare services also increases, there are opportunities we must act on to continue meeting the needs of our community and Simcoe Muskoka.
"Due to this growth, we have also developed a long-term parking strategy after evaluating numerous options. The addition of surface parking down the road from the health centre allows us to address our current capacity challenges for staff, and provides parking for patients and visitors close to the health centre.”
The by-law will be presented at the city council meeting on March 25.
