Clarington: site works begin on Bowmanville Hospital expansion

Site works have begun on the southeast side of Bowmanville Hospital, marking the start of physical construction on the facility's long-planned expansion. Crews have mobilized on lands previously occupied by businesses along King Street in Clarington, where a new parking lot will be built so the hospital can expand over its existing lot.

The redevelopment will roughly double hospital capacity, adding 32 new beds plus new inpatient, ambulatory care and emergency department facilities. The design-build request for proposals closed in June, and the design and construction team is expected to be announced this fall. The historic Lambert House was relocated to make way for the project, and additional land has been acquired for parking.

The Bowmanville project sits within Lakeridge Health's broader master redevelopment plan: as of August 2024 the Ontario government had provided more than $12 million in capital planning grants toward a plan that will add 300 hospital beds region-wide, including a new Whitby hospital, a post-acute care centre in Pickering and a later-phase expansion at Ajax Pickering. Lakeridge Health serves more than 700,000 residents across five hospitals and more than 20 community health centres. Sources: Durham Post reporting, Oct. 16, 2026, citing a Bowmanville Hospital Foundation statement.