Heavy Toronto-area fog halted Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s plan to personally announce the next phase of a $42-million hospital redevelopment project here, but it is still full steam ahead.
WALLACEBURG – Heavy Toronto-area fog halted Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s plan to personally announce the next phase of a $42-million hospital redevelopment project here, but it is still full steam ahead.
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“We will welcome him another time,” Chatham-Kent Health Alliance president and chief executive Lori Marshall told those gathered for the announcement Wednesday, on the eve of Thursday’s provincial byelection in the local Lambton-Kent-Middlesex riding.
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Ford’s absence also disappointed a small band of demonstrators protesting a controversial Dresden-area landfill and recycling proposal.
Area MPP Trevor Jones (PC-Chatham-Kent-Leamington) filled in to announce provincial approval of CKHA’s bid to advance to the next phase of the hospital project, of detailed floor plans, cost estimates and scheduling for the project.
The government is making “historical investments across Ontario to connect more people to convenient health care closer to home,” including nearly $50 billion in coming years for 50 new hospitals and hospital expansions, he said.
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Next stage is submitting detailed drawings as part of the Health Ministry’s capital planning process, Marshall said. This will take six to nine months to complete.
“This is the stage that immediately precedes going to tender,” she said.
Redevelopment plans include a new emergency department housing six new medical beds, including a palliative care bed, and new diagnostic imaging and laboratory areas, Marshall said.
CKHA must reconfirm the $42-million cost estimate, made during the project’s last phase, during the new phase, Marshall said. It hasn’t been updated since 2022, but “we’re fairly confident there won’t have been major changes.”
“We believe if everything went according to plan, that we could have a shovel in the ground by the summer of 2025,” Marshall said, adding construction is estimated to last 18 months to two years.
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Dr. Zeke Milkovic, CKHA’s acting chief of staff, said the project was exciting.
“It’s nice to get the care that the Wallaceburg residents deserve and have a new facility,” he said.
Asked if such renewal would help attract and retain health professionals, he replied: “It can’t hurt.”
“It’s certainly a first step,” he added. “People like to work in (nice) facilities and have the resources that they need to provide care.”
Marshall thanked the community for its generosity, adding CKHA appreciates the $4.5 million Chatham-Kent has committed to the project.
She said this contribution and Wednesday’s announcement kicks off CKHA Foundation’s $9-million Our Hospital, Our Future: Wallaceburg Redevelopment Project.
The drive will cover the community’s share of the hospital revitalization, including part of the construction costs and equipment for the renovated space,
“I will say, ‘Our community is good for this, we will deliver,’” Marshall said.
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