Ford promises new hospital for Grimsby
It’s a promise they’ve heard before, but that didn’t make it any less exciting for the people at West Lincoln Memorial Hospital Wednesday morning as the provincial government vowed a new hospital will be built in Grimsby.
Flanked by senior members of his cabinet as well as Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff, Premier Doug Ford announced a $500,000 grant to fund early planning for a new Grimsby hospital, as well as the continuation of surgical and obstetrics services at WLMH into 2019.
“We’re going to build you a new hospital,” Ford said, calling investment in the hospital “desperately needed and long overdue.”
“Christmas came early this year to West Niagara,” Oosterhoff said, following the announcement.
While Ford offered few details on the timeline for the rebuild, he said he wants to work quickly.
Oosterhoff told Niagara This Week to expect shovels in the ground soon.
“In this term we will have shovels in the ground,” he said.
West Niagara has been fighting for a new hospital for years. A rebuild was promised by the former Liberal government in 2005 but those plans were shelved seven years later as part of costcutting measures. When the PCs came to power earlier this year local officials were hopeful it could mean movement on a hospital rebuild.
But a late October memo to staff at the hospital from Hamilton Health Sciences generated serious questions about the future of the hospital. That memo suggested obstetrics and surgical services would be leaving WLMH for a period of about 27 months to make way for infrastructure upgrades required to meet Accreditation Canada standards.
With Wednesday’s announcement of the planning grant, the PC government also announced those services would remain in Grimsby. Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Christine Elliott said those services would only move if required during the hospital rebuild, and ensured they would be temporary.
“Service relocations that may be necessary, if any, will be part of the redevelopment process for the community and will be temporary,” she said, adding any plans to remove services in the new year “will not be moving forward.”
Additionally, the government said it will spend $8.5 million in infrastructure upgrades to the hospital. That work will include heating and cooling, along with plumbing and electrical systems, and will begin in December.
HHS CEO Rob MacIsaac called those immediate upgrades “critical infrastructure improvements” for the hospital.
The immediate improvements of the surgical department remain somewhat unclear. Wednesday’s announcement didn’t address those specific infrastructure needs, other than the provincial government committing to keeping surgery and obstetrics open. HHS has formed a working group that includes hospital staff and administration that is working to come up with solutions for the departments. That working group is expected to offer some options in January.
MacIsaac said he expects any plans HHS has developed to date to be a part of the early planning phase announced Wednesday. Plans for the Grimsby site included the maintenance of an emergency room and obstetrics at WLMH.
“We haven’t deviated from the original plan,” said MacIsaac.
Lincoln Mayor Sandra Easton is happy with what she heard on Wednesday.
“The announcement is something we can work with,” she said, adding the community has come together in support of the hospital over the past few weeks. She said the $500,000 grant promises a “very intense and very focused” planning process.
As for the lack of a firm timeline, Easton said she doesn’t think it’s realistic to expect that level of detail at this point in time but that the community needs to look at Wednesday’s announcement as a positive step.
She also said the presence of two ministers — Elliott and Minister of Infrastructure Monte McNaughton — along with the premier and Oosterhoff sent a strong signal that the provincial government is committed to a rebuild.
“It’s absolutely essential that this hospital exists in the future for all of west Niagara and the east parts of Winona and Stoney Creek,” she said.