Southlake launches site selection process to build a new hospital
For 100 years and counting, Southlake has served the growing communities in northern York Region and southern Simcoe County from its Davis Drive site. Having stretched capacity to serve patients in space half the size required by today’s standards, Southlake has launched an open call for proposals to identify land suitable to build a second hospital.
Landowners with a minimum of 40 acres of developable land suitable for building a large community hospital are invited to review the detailed proposals document linked below and electronically present a submission to newhospitalsite@southlake.ca by January 15, 2025 at 2 p.m. EST. While all interest is appreciated, only submissions that meet mandatory criteria will proceed to a secondary review as part of a two-staged process.
Questions & Answers
Application Process
How do I submit an expression of interest?
All those interested in producing a submission should thoroughly review the Proposal Call document available at the link above for more information.
A complete Stage 1 submission needs to be submitted electronically to newhospitalsite@southlake.ca before the deadline of January 15, 2025 at 2 p.m. EST.
What information needs to be included in my submission?
Southlake’s site Proposal Call will be conducted in a two-stage process. All submissions are required to meet all Stage 1 mandatory criteria in order to be considered for a Stage 2 review.
The Stage 1 mandatory submission criteria are outlined in the Proposal Call document and include:
- A minimum of 40 acres of developable land
- Documentation of land ownership
- Confirmation from all owners to proceed with a land transaction to Southlake
- Recent environmental reports demonstrating there is no known soil or groundwater contamination at the proposed site
- Land is not within key natural heritage features or in areas that would prevent the development of a hospital
- Located outside the Greenbelt and Oak Ridges Moraine areas
- Serviceable – with water, sewage, natural gas, electrical and communications infrastructure in the next 5-7 years
- Be within a 17 km radius Southlake’s Davis Drive site
- Allow for the creation of a heliport
- Site has no known archaeological or other impediments to development.
Detailed submission instructions are outlined in the proposals document available at the link above.
Who will be reviewing my application?
Southlake’s Board of Directors has endorsed a site selection process framework to develop a new acute care hospital that includes establishing a Land Acquisition Sub-Committee.
The sub-committee is comprised of Board members that bring expertise from various professions to support the site selection process, and are supported by an Executive Lead, Project Advisor, and other subject matter experts retained by Southlake to coordinate the process and provide recommendations to the committee.
How is a successful submission identified?
Submissions will be evaluated through a two-stage process as outlined in the Proposal Call document available at the link above.
Stage 1 sets out mandatory criteria, which have been defined based on Southlake’s requirements and ensuring development readiness for a new hospital.
Submissions that meet the Stage 1 mandatory requirements will be asked to submit a Stage 2 submission that will include additional due diligence information that will allow Southlake to evaluate proposals against additional criteria.
Following the evaluation review period by Southlake’s Board of Directors, proponents will be advised of the final decision related to their submission.
How will you ensure a sense of fairness is maintained throughout the process?
A third-party Fairness Advisor has been retained to ensure activities and assessments are undertaken without bias and on an objective basis.
Greg Dadd, a former Principal consultant at Optimus SBR, has assumed the Fairness Advisor responsibilities for Southlake’s site selection process.
Greg has held senior positions within the public sector, as Director, Supply and Financial Services with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Chief Operating Officer of Ontario Realty Corporation (ORC), the agency which managed all activities involving the provincial government’s real estate portfolio including responsibility for land acquisitions and surplus sales and development.
Greg has completed more than fifty assignments in a Fairness Advisor role, providing the practical application of his earlier career experience and accountability for ensuring fair public procurement processes. He has been engaged as a Fairness Advisor for a number of high-profile, complex infrastructure projects including several hospitals in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces. Greg recently completed site selection engagements with Lakeridge Health and Grand River Hospital and St. Mary’s General Hospital for proposed new hospitals in Durham Region and Kitchener-Waterloo.
When will a successful proponent be announced?
Southlake looks forward to announcing a successful proponent next spring.
Is Southlake looking to own the land?
Yes, a key objective of the Proposal Call is to identify land suitable for a large community hospital that allows for development within a 5–7-year period.
It is expected that proponents making submissions have the right to transfer the land to Southlake.
Southlake’s Master Plan
How big will the new hospital be?
Preliminary plans include expanding acute and post-acute care, critical care and emergency care, diagnostic imaging and surgery.
Once land is secured, more detailed planning with our provincial partners will take place that will provide greater clarity to help outline Southlake’s clinical operations to best meet our patients’ needs.
When is the new hospital expected to open?
Building a new hospital in Ontario generally takes 8-10 years and time is of the essence to ensure we can meet the acute care needs of our community.
Additional Questions Received
For proposals that are approved to proceed to Stage 2, will there be opportunity for collaboration or consultation with Southlake on the Stage 2 submissions, or will discussions with Southlake be limited until after Stage 2 is complete?
Southlake has defined the application process in the Proposal Call document. As the process is competitive in nature, all correspondence must follow the defined Question and Answer process to maintain fairness throughout the proposal call. Should a question be commercially sensitive, proponents are able to identify those for consideration by Southlake for a direct response. If Southlake determines the question is not commercially sensitive, the proponent will be advised and permitted to withdraw their question, otherwise the question and Southlake’s response will be posted publicly.
Can Southlake provide more information/approximate usage requirements for natural gas and electricity so proponents can confirm with utility providers?
Using the existing Southlake hospital as a benchmark, it should be expected that natural gas usage would average 240,000m3 per month. Monthly electricity usage would average 2,200,000kWh. It should be noted that the size of the proposed hospital is not defined and these quantities should be used for preliminary scaling only.
Will the successful proponents of Stage 1 be made public and/or shared with applicants?
Names of successful Stage 1 proponents will be posted publicly. Unsuccessful proponents will not be named.
Can Southlake provide any water consumption and sanitary flow data (average daily and peak) available for the existing Southlake Hospital site?
Using the existing Southlake hospital as a benchmark, it should be expected that water usage (as a barometer of sewage discharge) would average 14,000m3 per month. It should be noted that the size of the proposed hospital is not defined and these quantities should be used for preliminary scaling use only.
Is there any guidance that can be provided on the estimated number of beds to be provided at the new hospital site? If a number is not yet available, could Southlake’s ideal scenario and/or an upper limit be provided?
Southlake’s Master Plan remains under discussion with the Ministry of Health. From a broad-based planning approach, Southlake has determined that a minimum of 40 acres is required to support the proposed hospital and supporting healthcare facilities/developments. Southlake would be circumventing the Ministry planning process in providing an upper limit or range at this time. Should a proponent require information to guide order of magnitude servicing requirements Southlake will endeavour to provide such using a benchmark approach.
What is the primary objective of the new hospital? Is it to duplicate or more general, specialized tertiary care? Asking to better understand synergies with other existing/potential neighbours.
The proposed new hospital will enable Southlake to effectively meet the acute care needs of the growing population in our catchment area. The specific scope of services and size of the facility remains under discussion with the Ministry of Health.
For evaluation criteria, how will the decision be made should there be multiple qualified bidders that meet both stages 1 & 2 criteria and ranked based on Schedule B2?
The Proposal Call process outlines the evaluation process including Mandatory (pass-fail) criteria and a scored set of evaluation criteria (Stage 2 (Schedule B2)). It is Southlake’s view that a ‘tie’ resulting from these processes would be very remote.
Are there any expectations for partnerships outside of one between landowner and hospital? Governments as an example.
There are no expectations of partnerships outside of the landowner(s) and the hospital.
Are there any preliminary specifications or designs we can review?
As the scale and scope of services remains under discussion with the Ministry of Health, no preliminary designs have been developed.
Who will lead the design, engineering, construction and regulatory approvals for the project? Any partnership expectations or options available?
The development of the new hospital requires several approval stages within the Ministry of Health and related government entities. Part of those approvals will be the definition of the procurement requirements for design and construction.
Are there any draft terms for landowner participation if the lease option is selected?
As stated in the Proposal Call, only land leased from the Provincial Government is eligible for consideration.
Are there draft liability and responsibility terms available for the landowner, hospital, or others involved?
Draft Option and Purchase Agreements are provided as part of the Proposal Call. These documents set out Southlake’s preferred terms and conditions. Should those documents not contain information you are seeking, additional questions or clarifications should be made as part of the Stage 2 process should the bid be successful in meeting the Stage 1 criteria.
Are there any restrictions on uses of adjacent land owned by the landowner or neighbours?
The range of potential incompatible uses is extensive and prudent land use planning (e.g., zoning) would likely define these during the planning process. As noted in Schedule B2 to the RFP, it is expected that the Registered Professional Planning (RPP) report submitted by the Proponent as part of a Stage 2 Submission will identify adjacent incompatible uses. Some basic examples (but are not limited to) would include, building heights that would impede the ability of heliport certification, heavy industry that potentially creates hazardous emissions, chemical storage facilities that present risk of widespread impacts in an industrial incident scenario. Examples of potentially compatible uses include residential with appropriate distance separation, commercial uses, public uses, open space.
Is the (mandatory) criteria in the first stage the same as the second?
Essentially yes, but the requirements including the level of owner(s) commitment and survey requirements are required. The criteria are defined in Schedule B2.
Is there a sample of the mark up Option to Purchase? Note: This is Southlake’s interpretation of a question posed.
A form of Option to Purchase (and Agreement of Purchase and Sale) were posted alongside the Proposal Call document. Submissions advancing to Stage 2 are expected to provide any proposed changes to such form of documents as defined in the Proposal Call.
Why is there a 5-year Option period if the timeline for the development of the hospital is 7-10 years?
As outlined in the Proposal Call, the certainty of timing of the development of the proposed hospital includes several approvals from the Ministry of Health. Southlake desires a 5-year Option period prior to transfer of land under the Purchase and Sale (or as applicable the Lease Agreement). For clarity, Southlake may elect to exercise its Option to acquire the land prior to the expiration of the Option period.
What factors are to be used in assessing transaction complexity?
Transaction complexity will be assessed based on the scope and materiality of the changes to the form of Option and Purchase and Sale agreements provided by proponents as part of their Stage 2 submission. The forms of land transaction agreements reflect Southlake’s preferred transaction arrangements. Proponents proposing additional terms and conditions will be evaluated by Southlake’s expert legal advisor and scored relative to other proponents’ proposed changes.
Can an Option to Purchase and Lease exist at the same time?
Yes, but please note that Lease transactions will only be entertained when the counterparty is the Province of Ontario.
Are mortgage postponements to sale or option permitted?
Any land purchase transaction must provide clear and unencumbered title to Southlake. Should there be unique circumstances during the Option Period, Southlake would encourage bidders to seek clarification on those circumstances during the Stage 2 Question and Answer process.
What specifically can be provided by a municipality if lands are not currently within a Settlement Area?
Land that is not currently identified as a Settlement Area within the Greenbelt is not eligible for consideration as outlined in the Proposal Call document.
What documents are used to identify a Key Natural Heritage Feature?
Southlake encourages proponents to review the various provincial policy documents, including but not limited to The Greenbelt Plan, The Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan (ORMCP), as well as regional and local municipal policy documents. As noted in Schedule B2 to the Proposal Call, it is expected that the land use planning report submitted by the Proponent as part of a Stage 2 Submission will identify any Key Natural Heritage Features.
If formal reports are not available for Stage 1, will that lessen the likelihood of advancing to Stage 2?
As noted in the Proposal Call, if formal reports are not available, the proponent shall provide a listing of Persons with whom due inquiry has been made to support the statements. Failure to provide any baseline information about potential for site development feasibility may lead to ineligibility for the Stage 2 process.
Stage 2 submissions will require correspondence and formal reports supporting statements regarding site servicing.
What happens if the required letters from Utilities are not available by January 15, 2025?
As noted in the Proposal Call, if formal reports are not available, the proponent shall provide a listing of Persons with whom due inquiry has been made to support the statements. Failure to provide any baseline information about potential for site servicing feasibility may lead to ineligibility for the Stage 2 process.
Stage 2 submissions will require correspondence and formal reports supporting statements regarding site servicing.
Will Southlake advise how many proponents have advanced to Stage 2 and provide details about those proponents?
Names of successful Stage 1 proponents will be posted publicly. Unsuccessful proponents will not be named.