I stood on Concession Street last Wednesday morning, watching shop owners sweep their sidewalks and turn “Closed” signs to “Open.” The early autumn light cast long shadows across one of Hamilton’s oldest commercial districts, while behind me loomed the sprawling campus of Juravinski Hospital. These neighbors—one a collection of family-owned shops and restaurants, the other a critical healthcare hub—have shared this Mountain brow for generations.
“We’ve been here 25 years, and the hospital has always been our anchor,” said Leo Santos, owner of Vintage Coffee Roasters, as he arranged chairs on his patio. “When they announced the rebuild, honestly, we worried. Construction means disruption. But then we started thinking about the bigger picture.”
That bigger picture is taking shape now as Hamilton Health Sciences moves forward with its ambitious $1 billion redevelopment of Juravinski Hospital. The project, which received provincial approval last year, represents the most significant healthcare infrastructure investment in Hamilton’s Mountain communities in decades.
What makes this development story different is how the Concession Street Business Improvement Area (BIA) has chosen to respond. Rather than bracing for negative impacts, they’re actively embracing the hospital’s transformation.
“Initially, there was concern about parking, construction noise, and potential loss of foot traffic,” explained Cristina Geissler, Executive Director of the Concession Street BIA. “But we’ve pivoted to see this as an opportunity for long-term growth. Healthcare workers, patients, and families all need places to eat, shop, and find moments of normalcy during difficult times.”
The BIA recently unveiled a partnership strategy they’re calling “Building Together,” which includes coordinated marketing campaigns, special discount programs for hospital staff, and quarterly planning meetings with hospital administration to address concerns before they become problems.
Dr. Michael Stacey, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Executive at Hamilton Health Sciences, sees the community engagement as essential to the project’s success. “Healthcare doesn’t happen in isolation. When we improve Juravinski Hospital, we’re not just building better clinical spaces—we’re strengthening a neighborhood ecosystem that supports healing.”
The redevelopment plans include a new seven-story inpatient tower, expanded cancer care facilities, modernized surgical suites, and significantly improved accessibility features. According to documents from Infrastructure Ontario, construction is expected to begin in late 2024 with completion targeted for 2029.
For the 40,000 annual patients who receive care at Juravinski—many traveling from communities throughout South-Central Ontario—these improvements can’t come soon enough. The hospital, portions of which date back to the 1950s, has struggled to keep pace with modern healthcare delivery despite housing world-class programs in cancer care and orthopedic surgery.
Environmental planner Robin Mazumder, who studies the relationship between urban design and wellbeing, says the Concession Street approach could become a model for other communities facing large institutional developments.
“What’s happening here is essentially co-design,” Mazumder explained when I called him to discuss the project. “The businesses aren’t just passive recipients of change—they’re helping shape how the development integrates with the existing community fabric. That’s rare and valuable.”
This integration is visible in early design concepts that show improved pedestrian connections between the hospital campus and Concession Street, including weather-protected walkways and public rest areas featuring local art.
“We know from research that access to normal, everyday experiences like grabbing a coffee or browsing a bookshop can significantly impact patient recovery and staff wellbeing,” noted Dr. Angela Reitsma, who leads Hamilton Health Sciences’ patient experience program. “When hospital campuses become isolated islands, everyone loses.”
Not everyone shares this optimistic outlook. At a recent community forum, some residents from nearby neighborhoods expressed concerns about increased traffic and the scale of the new buildings. Others questioned whether the current parking infrastructure could handle additional visitors.
Mark Farr, whose family has operated Mountain Variety Store for three generations, understands these concerns but remains hopeful. “Change is always hard, but this neighborhood has reinvented itself many times. My grandfather served returning soldiers when this was Henderson Hospital. My father adapted when it became part of the regional cancer network. Now it’s our turn to evolve.”
For patients like Maria Constandinou, who has been receiving cancer treatment at Juravinski for the past two years, the street’s welcoming atmosphere has been as important as the medical care itself.
“On my good days, I walk down to the bakery or the flower shop,” she told me, sitting on a bench overlooking the escarpment. “It makes me feel normal—like I’m more than just my diagnosis. The hospital saves lives, but this street? It reminds us why those lives matter.”
As the sun climbed higher, I watched hospital staff in scrubs mixing with local shoppers at the street’s small farmer’s market. A construction worker studying blueprints bought coffee from a vendor who knew his order by heart. A patient in a hospital gown, accompanied by a nurse, smiled as a shop owner waved from across the street.
These small moments of connection illustrate what successful community integration looks like—not just buildings sharing geography, but people sharing space and purpose.
“The hospital will always be here, and so will we,” said Santos, returning to serve his morning customers. “The question isn’t whether change is coming—it’s whether we build something better together when it does.”
