Welcome
This page shares all the latest updates and information from the Town of Fort Erie about how we are Reimagining Douglas Memorial as a community-focused health care hub. Visit often to check in and see what’s new.
Top Priority
Community Health is the top priority for Council, the community and Town Staff. Fort Erie’s resident and visitor populations are growing and people need access to health care close to home.
Construction of the new South Niagara Hospital site is moving forward and this facility is scheduled to open in 2028. Niagara Health will run the hospital in partnership with EllisDon. To learn more about this project, visit the Niagara Health website: https://www.niagarahealth.on.ca/site/south-niagara...
The Town is working hard to make sure that health care services will still be provided at the Douglas Memorial Hospital site after the new South Niagara Hospital opens.
Vision
The Town of Fort Erie is Reimagining Douglas Memorial as a health care hub that includes:
- An Urgent Care Centre
- Diagnostic Imaging
- Alternate level of care, transitional and/or palliative care
- Allied health and primary care
- Post-secondary medical and health care training
Recent Steps
2025 has been a big year for advancing the vision for Douglas Memorial. Recent efforts to make this vision a reality include:
- Meetings with the Community Health Services Committee
- Networking events for primary care providers
- Assisting Niagara Health with Urgent Care Centre physician recruitment
- Press conference in response to the reduction of Urgent Care Centre hours
- Presentations by Mayor Redekop to the Niagara Health Board
- Delegations to the Ministry of Health
- Meeting with members of the Ontario Medical Association
- Touring the Douglas Memorial Hospital site
- Multiple meetings and discussions with primary care, transitional care, diagnostic imaging and post-secondary education providers
- Meeting with interested community and stakeholder groups
- Researching and reviewing community health care models in other municipalities
- Multiple meetings with Ontario Health, Niagara Ontario Health Team, Niagara Health and Family Health Team representatives in Niagara
Community Services is working closely with the CAO, Council and Mayor to manage next steps for Reimagining Douglas Memorial as a Town-led project with clear deliverables and concrete, tangible goals.
Dr. William Douglas was born in Fort Erie in 1846. He attended Upper Canada College and the University of Toronto, studied medicine, graduated in 1867 and returned to Fort Erie.
Dr. Douglas travelled all over Bertie Township by horse and buggy or sleigh to visit his patients in their homes. He was born, raised, lived and died in the same house on Niagara Boulevard. Following his death in 1929, Dr. Douglas left more than $600,000 in his will to build and maintain Douglas Memorial Hospital.
This 34-bed hospital officially opened on July 3, 1931. Burton Troupe from Waterloo Street was its first admitted patient, and Mrs. Daniel Fraser of Bridgeburg delivered the first baby to be born at the hospital on the next day. He was a hefty fellow at 10 pounds and was named Douglas Donald Fraser.
Douglas Memorial Hospital expanded as Fort Erie grew. An addition opened in 1968, a medical centre was added next door in 1972, and in 1981 a new emergency department opened as a direct result of community-based fundraising to cover the $250,000 cost which is equivalent to more than $1,000,000 in 2025.
Community spirit and identity has always been strongly linked with the Douglas Memorial Hospital. Its very existence relies on the generosity and commitment from Dr. Douglas to serve the Fort Erie community and foster a similar passion in others.
The original hospital included live-in facilities for nursing, dietary and housekeeping personnel. There were modern operating rooms, an x-ray department, obstetrical department and laboratories. All patient rooms had a southern exposure with lots of natural light.
The original hospital was built in a Georgian style with symmetrical windows and faux columns on the facade. The Executors and Trustees decided at the outset that its design should be distinctly Canadian in its architecture and construction.
William Lyon Somerville, ARCA of Toronto was the architect responsible for design. Somerville also worked on the restoration of Old Fort Erie in 1937-1939.
Today Niagara Health operates the Fort Erie Complex and Urgent Care Centre at 230 Bertie Street. Niagara Health owns this property, provides health care services and maintains the existing facilities at this site.
