New special care nursery to be built at St. Joseph’s in Hamilton

HAMILTON — The Ontario government has announced it plans to redevelop the St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton’s Special Care Nursery.

The nursery will be renovated to create a larger space to ensure newborns and their families have better access to specialized neonatal intensive care and family-centered birthing supports, including:

• Enhanced infection prevention and control measures.
• More private rooms to address privacy concerns.
• Capability to accommodate design standards that provide more space for specialized care.
• A designated room to store pumped or donated milk.
• Other supports tailored to the early developmental needs of infants including respiratory treatments, lactation and nutrition supports.

As a next step, the government is working with St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton to complete early planning and design for the project. A construction schedule will be confirmed once future planning is complete and a project contract is tendered and awarded, a release states.

The current Special Care Nursery at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton provides neonatal intensive care to infants and their families in southwestern Ontario, including Hamilton, Brant, Niagara, Haldimand, Halton, and surrounding regions.