Alliston hospital clarifies comments about building’s fire safety status

Stevenson Memorial Hospital (SMH) and the local fire chief are providing clarification and context to some questions that came up recently at Queen’s Park regarding the building’s fire safety status.

On Nov. 23, Simcoe-Grey MPP Jim Wilson received support for his private member’s resolution calling on the government to continue to support planning work for the construction of SMH in Alliston and Collingwood General and Marine Hospital.

, he talked about how a “massive investment” would be needed in order for the building to have a proper sprinkler system and how staff are forced to store equipment in the cramped hallways.

He even said the fire chief has officially put the hospital on notice about the building being in contravention of the Ontario Fire Code.

The hospital’s facilities manager, Wayne Willcott, told Simcoe.com the building is not in violation of the code, but it has been given a deadline of Jan. 1, 2025, to install a sprinkler system in the 56-year-old building.

He noted that when the hospital was constructed in 1964, it was not a requirement at the time to have a system. There is only one small area that has a sprinkler system, the CT diagnostic imaging area, which was built more recently.

He said the hospital was “grandfathered in” as new safety regulations were passed over the years.

Hospital communications officer Rachel Ogorek said it has been estimated to cost between $850,000 to $2 million to outfit the building with sprinklers.

“It’s certainly not something we can manage without the support of the ministry supporting the redevelopment plan and packaging it all together,” she said.

As for the equipment being left in hallways, Willcott said these are the mobile work stations used by nurses. He said when the building was originally constructed, nurses did all of their paper work at the nursing station.

To ensure there is still access through the halls, he said the equipment is kept to one side.

He said this won’t be an issue with the redeveloped hospital, noting it will contain cubicles in the halls to store the work stations.

New Tecumseth Fire Chief Dan Heydon told Simcoe.com that his staff met with hospital management last year to discuss how the facility can achieve full compliance of the fire code come 2025. He said the code was updated in 2014, requiring sprinklers to be provided in health-care facilities, care occupancies and retirement homes by Jan. 1, 2025.

Heydon said space has been a long-standing challenge at the hospital, noting how the hospital is servicing many more patients than it was designed for.

“New Tecumseth Fire and Stevenson Memorial staff have been working co-operatively for many years to quickly address any concerns that arise to maintain compliance with the Ontario Fire Code,” he said. “There are no outstanding fire code violations at Stevenson Memorial Hospital.”

Willcott said the annual fire inspection was recently completed, and only some minor issues were found, like faded stickers on doors.

He said many things have been done over the years to make sure the building meets the code, like installing door openers on fire exits and providing evacuation chairs to move patients safely down stairwells.