You & WRHN Foundation. Together.
You & WRHN Foundation. Together.
A growing community needs care. Together, we will do more.
A growing community needs care. Together, we will do more.
Together, we are putting advanced equipment in the hands of care teams, growing the programs this region is counting on, and helping shape the spaces where care will transform lives for generations, including Waterloo Region’s new acute hospital. The strength behind this year carries forward.
Our healthcare, our investment: Building a future where care gives back
We’ve all heard the projection: one million residents in Waterloo Region by 2050 and today, 1.4 million people rely on Waterloo Regional Health Network (WRHN) for their healthcare. With our population growing at a rapid pace, we’re facing a pivotal moment.
This is a generational opportunity to shape the future of healthcare.
Over the next two decades:
- 2 million Ontarians will rely on WRHN for care
- hospital use by seniors will grow by 170 per cent
- and the region will need more than 500 additional hospital beds
Rooted in Care. Building for Health.
Plans are well underway for a new, acute care hospital – a multi-year project and a multi-year investment in our community and its health. This collective work will culminate in modern, state-of-the-art facilities; innovation embedded throughout every model of care; and inclusive, equitable and culturally appropriate care and spaces. Together, we are:
- Building Waterloo Region's new hospital in Waterloo, bordered by Bearinger and Westmount Roads and Hagey Boulevard
- Redeveloping WRHN @ Midtown as a centre for same-day and emergency care
- Expanding rehabilitation services at WRHN @ Chicopee
- Maintaining WRHN @ Queen's Blvd. until 2035, when its programs move to the new hospital
Government approval is needed to move through each planning stage.
A year of progress
June, 2025: WRHN submitted its Stage 1.3 Functional Program to the Ministry of Health in June 2025, defining the patient programs, services and spaces the new hospital will need.
July, 2025: the Minister of Health visited WRHN @ Midtown to confirm an additional $10 million provincial planning grant to support WRHN’s redevelopment.
December, 2025: WRHN selected HDR and KPMB Architects – firms behind hospital construction across Ontario and around the world – to lead the next stage of design, turning plans into building a clear picture of how the hospital will work.
The future of healthcare is about building together
Our new hospital is being planned for – and with – the people who will use it.
- 12,000 community members shared input during site selection
- 300 team members, patient and family partners, and community members launched the current design stage together
- 800 people walked through full-scale cardboard mock-ups of key hospital spaces this spring, offering feedback that is shaping the designs
Engagement with Indigenous communities, including a regional Indigenous Advisory Circle, Six Nations of the Grand River, and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, is informing facility design throughout the project.
An aerial view of the site of Waterloo Region's New Hospital, bordering Bearinger Road, Westmount Road, and Hagey Boulevard in Waterloo, ON.
An aerial view of the site of Waterloo Region's New Hospital, bordering Bearinger Road, Westmount Road, and Hagey Boulevard in Waterloo, ON.
Fueled by community, focused on care.
WRHN continues working with the Ministry of Health and provincial partners toward approvals that will move the project from planning to construction.
Together with donor support, we are embracing the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity ahead to build a health system that leads.
It’s our collective responsibility to step up and help shape healthcare for generations to come – so that it reflects the innovative, collaborative and diverse communities we serve.
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Stepping into the future of care
This past April, WRHN gave team members, hospital leaders, patient and family partners, and donors a glimpse into the future of care – 10 years before the new hospital is built.
Led by new hospital architects, HDR and KPMB [link to their websites], architectural students - including a group of University of Waterloo engineering students - created life-size cardboard mock-ups of hospital spaces, including inpatient rooms and a labour and delivery suite.
WRHN teams ran hospital code scenarios in the spaces, testing workflows and identifying opportunities to improve care, allowing the Redevelopment Team to make real-time changes to how we plan these future spaces.
Toured by the Redevelopment Team - which includes nurses, architects, engineers and other legacy WRHN team members - and Foundation team members, members of our donor community then got to experience the mock-up space firsthand.
They asked questions, shared experiences and saw how patient-centred design will shape care for generations.
Because the future of healthcare isn’t just about a building; it’s about the people who’ll work inside it, and the patients they’ll treat there.
Waterloo Regional Health Network Foundation
Impact Report 2025/26
Land Acknowledgement
Waterloo Regional Health Network (WRHN) acknowledges that we gather, work, and heal on the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, and Chonnonton Peoples.
Our healthcare team and community provide health services within the Haldimand Tract Treaty of 1784 that granted six miles on either side of the Grand River to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.