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The expected date is something that Dr. Tim Jackson, Division Head for General Surgery in UHN’s Sprott Department of Surgery, said he is looking forward to. The current, decades-old operating rooms at the hospital work — allowing UHN to be the surgical leader that it is — but they also come with some challenges.

“They were built for the surgery of the past, certainly not the surgery of the future,” he said. “Because of our team, it’s pretty remarkable what we can get accomplish given the space we have available. Our people are our special sauce, so we really have a can-do attitude and I am really impressed with them.”

The hospital’s current 17 operating rooms were designed and built in the 1970s and ’80s and are small and cumbersome, constructed at a time the doctor was at the centre of procedures, surgical teams were small and medical equipment was less technologically sophisticated.

But today, Dr. Jackson said, with the increasing use of medical robotics and other specialised equipment, there are challenges just physically getting those machines into the operating rooms along with essential members of a surgical team.

“The patient also wasn’t at the centre of the planning of our current operating room, so they have to go to multiple places when having a procedure. They check in at one spot, they sit in another spot, then go down the hall to another spot, and it’s not a great experience for them or for their families.”

The Province of Ontario is providing $800 million in funding to the construction of the surgical tower, with the remaining $300 million — which will be used to purchase everything from medical equipment to patient-facing technologies — being raised through philanthropic support by UHN Foundation.

“This is the largest and most important capital project at UHN, ever,” said Julie Quenneville, CEO, UHN Foundation.

She said UHN’s Sprott Department of Surgery is already the largest surgical program in Canada, with the pc28����Western campus home to world-renowned expertise in Neurosurgery and Orthopedic surgery, as well as minimally invasive and general surgeries.

Once the new tower is constructed, she said, the surgical teams will be propelled into the future of medical technologies and procedures with the latest surgical robots, real-time imaging and AI-powered technology right in the operating room, and new training facilities for the next generation of surgeons.

“When you think through the importance of a project like this, we are not only transforming how surgery is done at UHN and in Ontario and Canada, but we are also transforming how surgery is done around the world because there are countless examples of medicine and innovation that have started at UHN and are now being used all around the world.”

Quenneville said the new tower’s operating rooms will see robotics, capable of performing minimally invasive surgeries to reduce recovery times, integrated into the operating spaces along with other technologies, and with space for the surgical teams to manoeuvre during procedures. With the addition of new surgical robots, UHN will become home to the largest surgical robotics program in the country, further strengthening its ability to treat some of the most complex surgical cases in Canada.

“We will have an MRI directly on the operating room floor, and that is extremely important because one of the areas of specialty that pc28����Western has is spine and brain. Each of those surgeries actually requires multiple visits to the MRI during the surgery, and right now we have to exit the operating room and travel significantly through the hospital with patients.”

The experience of patients — and their families — will also change for the better with the new tower at pc28����Western, said UHN Clinical Vice President Marnie Escaf.

“When we think about health care today, it’s not only about the patient. Their family is also an important component of the care and service that we deliver,” she said. “Our current buildings are older, and they really weren’t designed with the family in mind, nor were they designed with a lot of private rooms.”

She said the surgical journey in the new tower will start with the patient and their family being brought to a private room where they can be together and prepare. After the patient is wheeled through the doors into surgery, the family can track their progress in real time using navigation technology accessible through their personal smart device.

Post-surgery, for those patients that are admitted, they will recover in a private room with their own washroom and a chair that can convert into a bed so family can stay with their loved ones. Monitors next to the bed will include educational resources, information on next steps in their surgical journey, and details on the medical professionals who are entering their room to see them.

“We lack a lot of technology that is designed to improve the patient experience within our existing units, so that is a factor,” said Escaf. “You know there are not great entertainment systems, or great technology to support education, and just information for the patients around, ‘Here is what you can expect today.’

“We’ve also taken an approach of trying to de-institutionalize the new space and make it feel a lot warmer and more welcoming,” she said.

These unique areas include a planned 4,000-square-foot outdoor terrace and a designated family waiting lounge with kitchen. And for UHN staff, there will be dedicated respite lounges located on clinical floors throughout the tower to provide a calming space to relax and recharge.

“In all of the designs, we have had patients and families involved, we have had staff involved in the process and we have been very thoughtful and intentional about getting that input,” she said. “It’s really just creating a space that is optimal for the medical needs, but also that supports that emotional and psychological wellbeing of our patients and their families, and certainly, to have amenities for our staff to create an environment where people want to work.”

UHN Foundation’s Quenneville notes the Campaign Cabinet for the surgical tower project — composed of community and corporate leaders who are ambassadors for UHN and medicine in Canada — has already surpassed $80 million of its $300 million fundraising goal.

“Donors have a really unique opportunity to partner with UHN to truly transform and lead the revolution in surgery,” she said.

Dr. Jackson said the new tower will help keep surgical wait times to a minimum, increasing capacity by 20 to 50 per cent in the next decade.

“The more efficient we can be, the better for the patient,” he said. “One of the worst things I have to do as a surgeon, is to walk out to a patient and their families and say, ‘I know you are all ready to go today, and we made arrangements, and your whole life is on pause, but I can’t do it, come back another day.’”

To learn more about how you can support UHN’s tower project please visit .