NOTL health-care hub owner concerned about competition

Two medical centres — one not built yet and the other currently housing a group of doctors — are competing to become the community health-care hub for Niagaraon-the-Lake.

The owner of the medical centre at 1882 Niagara Stone Rd. in Virgil, Anthony Annunziata, came to town council Monday night to question whether a proposed facility beside Crossroads School is “a done deal.”

He said the doctors practising out of his building have served notice that they will be vacating their space by December 2019.

“The owners (of the proposed facility) are so certain of the support of this council that they have presented their preliminary site plan to the urban design committee on property that is not zoned,” Annunziata said, referring to the residential zoning for the vacant property.

He referenced a news release that was issued last November by the Niagara-on-the-Lake Family Physicians and the Niagara North Family Health Team stating that a new medical centre at Line 2 and Niagara Stone Road is slated to open in fall 2019.

The two groups of doctors are currently working out of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Medical Centre and the former hospital site on Wellington Avenue.

A health-care steering committee had recommended to town council two years ago that four sites be considered for a one-stop community health care hub that would include health-care providers along with a range of medical services such as X-rays, a laboratory, mental health services, palliative care, and medical specialists in various fields.

The Niagara-on-the-Lake Medical Centre, which Annunziata purchased in 2015, was one of the preferred sites. He said he spent $150,000 on a new site-plan application that included 2,520 square metres (28,000 square feet) of space for the doctors, an X-ray lab, a pharmacy and other medical services and an expanded parking lot. It was presented to council in 2016.

Regarding the proposal for the new facility, he called it a “30,000-square-foot development parachuted into a residential neighbourhood next to an elementary school of 450 children.”

With potential impacts on the area, Annunziata suggested that council “encourages ample public consultation.”

“Now my biggest concern and threat to the Niagara-on-the-Lake Medical Centre is real or perceived insider benefits,” Annunziata said. “Insiders who have been emboldened by either the actions, comments and/or commitments from various members of council.”

He said council has an obligation to ensure a level playing field, including adhering to the town’s official plan and not to assume that the proposed medical centre is “a done deal.”

“We can guarantee that due process will be followed,” said Lord Mayor Pat Darte.