St. Mary's General Hospital


St. Mary's General Hospital is a 147-bed adult acute-care facility in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada serving Waterloo Region and surrounding area. It is the site of the Regional Cardiac Care Centre, which opened in 2003. The emergency department was extensively renovated in 2004.

History

St. Mary's Hospital was founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Hamilton. Construction began in 1923 and the doors opened on 1924-10-21. From the beginning, a nursing school was part of the facility. General was added to its name in 1959. A major expansion between 1959 and 1962 saw the hospital grow from 123 beds to 354. The expanded facility included an emergency department and an intensive care unit. The nursing school was closed, with training moved to Conestoga College. In 1989, activities at St. Mary's were coordinated with those at the Grand River Hospital, and St. Mary's began to specialize in adult care.
In October 2018, Dr. Andrew Falconer was named president of St. Marys and St. Joseph’s Health System. With a staff of 1,300; this role was to commence in February 2019. Previously, Dr. Falconer was a vice president and chief of staff at Queensway Carleton Hospital in Ottawa. He replaced Don Shilton, who retired in June 2018. In May 2019, however, the hospital announced that Dr. Falconer would returning to Queensway Carleton as President and Chief Executive Officer, requiring a search for a new president of St. Mary's.