Windsor Regional Hospital hires project director for Windsor-Essex mega-hospital

Paul Landry has been selected as Windsor Regional Hospital's project director for the new acute care hospital. (Courtesy Windsor Regional Hospital)

Windsor Regional Hospital has introduced a project management team which will oversee the next stage of planning for the Windsor/Essex Acute Care Hospital.

Paul Landry has been selected as the hospital’s project director.

Landry is a senior management leader who has experience in strategic planning for new hospital, including the planning and development of multi-billion-dollar mega teaching hospitals in Montreal and Vancouver.

“Working with hospital staff and communities to modernize health care facilities is challenging, fun, and most of all rewarding for all those involved,” said Landry.

Meeting with more than 40 user groups representing different programs and services began earlier this month, kicking of the Stage 2 planning process.

“It’s a privilege to now be part of this project and I look forward to working with the dedicated, passionate team here,” Landry said.

From 2010 to 2016 Landry led the planning and construction phases of the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM), a $3-billion redevelopment project that includes a 772-bed main hospital building and a research-and-education centre. 

In 2016, Landry was recruited by Providence Health Care in Vancouver to support another Canadian mega teaching hospital project: St. Paul’s Hospital.

Most recently, he has worked as chief redevelopment officer for the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority where he led the Stage 3 planning and development process for a new health centre in Moosonee for Indigenous communities along the Lower James Bay Coast.

A project he will continue to support as he transitions into his new role with Windsor Regional Hospital.

To support this work, Windsor Regional Hospital has assembled the following team to form the Project Management Office (PMO).

Dr. Andrew Petrakos, director of clinical programs planning

Jeff Geml, director of support services planning

Allison Johnson, manager of communications and community engagement

Fatima Lopes-Barros, administrative assistant, corporate services

The team will be responsible Stage 2 planning for the new Windsor/Essex Acute Care Hospital.

Work will focus on the development of a Stage 2 submission to the Ministry of Health, including a “Functional Program,” — a detailed planning document outlining all of the programs to be delivered in the new hospital, the workload and staffing associated with each program, as well as the medical equipment and space requirements – and block schematic plans for the new facility.

Work on the Functional Program is supported by Agnew Peckham Healthcare Planners who have led similar planning exercises at some of the largest and most recent new hospitals in Ontario including the Ottawa Hospital, South Niagara, Trillium Health, Humber River and Oakville-Trafalgar.

Throughout the process, the teams will share updates on the project and look to patients and the community to bring a critically important “patient lens” to this project.

In the coming weeks, co-chairs from the user groups will provide updates on the planning process and community members will be invited to a series of virtual town hall meetings to learn more about some of the specific functional program elements that the teams are working on and provide feedback through a series of survey questions.

The goal is to have the Functional Program and block schematic plans ready to submit to the Ministry of Health by spring 2023.

Landry is hopeful to have a shovel in the ground for the Windsor/Essex Acute Care Hospital by the summer of 2026.