HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-05-18, Page 66 Lucknow Sentinel • Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Kincardine, Huron -Kinloss fund SBGHC studies to rehabilitate local hospital
Darryl Coote
Reporter
The South Bruce Grey
Health Centre (SBGHC)
edged closer to its goal of
rehabilitating the Kincar-
dine hospital early May
when the Municipality of
Kincardine and the Town-
ship of Huron -Kinloss gave
a combined $350,000
towards the cause.
In early April, SBGHC
CEO and President Paul
Rosebush met with the indi-
vidual councils asking for
money to fund $440,000 in
studies the government
requires as part of the cen-
tre's application for $10 mil-
lion from the province's Hos-
pital Infrastructure Renewal
Fund.
Both communities agreed
to financially back the
SBGHC, which has to submit
its proposal to the govern-
ment by July.
Those previous agree-
ments came back last
week with the councils
tasked with assigning
them dollar figures.
Huron -Kinloss council
promised $50,000 during its
council meeting May 2,
with an additional $50,000
to go the $4 -million Wing -
ham & District Hospital
Foundation redevelopment
project. The monies will
come from the township's
Nuclear Waste Manage-
ment Organization Com-
munity Fund.
Mayor Mitch Twolan sug-
gested the amount to no
contestation from council
stating the province will not
fund the hospital project
without the completion of
these four reports.
Kincardine Mayor Anne
Eadie said before her council
May 4 that she had previ-
ously met with the Huron -
Kinloss mayor to discuss the
matter.
"I'm going to throw a
number out there ... I was
thinking if we had $300,00
out of our reserve for the
hospital," she posed to
council.
Eadie elaborated that this
would leave about $1 million
in the Hospital Reserve Fund
that is used for doctor
recruitment and other
expenses.
"We've been doing very
well getting doctors so far,
but we have other doctors
reaching retirement so we
want to make sure we have
some money left if we can,"
she said.
Councillor Maureen Cou-
ture agreed with the figure
Eadie presented since the
community is going to be
relied heavily upon for rais-
ing funds for the project
once shovels hit dirt.
"The community is going
to be expected to raise quite
a bit of money when the
development starts," she
said.
Councillor Gord Campbell
then chimed up that he's
paused by the price of the
studies, to which Eadie
agreed.
"I hate putting the money
into a study, but unless the
study goes in with the appli-
cation it won't be consid-
ered," she said.
Councillor Randy Roppel
acquiesced to the figure,
though not without getting a
shot in at the Liberal provin-
cial government saying
come next election its han-
dling of this project will
come back to roost.
"The sad part about this
whole thing is the govern-
ment has deemed it if we
want to proceed further we
have to foot the bills in order
to do the study. It's either we
do the study reports or we
can complain until Hell
freezes over and we won't
get a renovation done at our
hospital," he said. "I'm sure
down the road there will be
another election and I'm
sure this will surface at that
time."
The plan to build a new
hospital has been pursued
since 2003, and it even
received pre -approval fund-
ing of $750,000 for studies in
2007, but that plan was
shelved in late 2011 follow-
ing the provincial general
election.
The plan then morphed in
2014 from a new build to
rehabilitating the aging
building when it was again
left off the province's list of
capital rebuilds.
The SBGHC has been con-
ducting the studies for the
present grant application
with plans for them to be
completed in June. They will
then be submitted in July
and the SBGHC anticipates
to hear back on whether it
receives funding sometime
this fall.
"I'm hoping by the fall we
hear something back, posi-
tive this time," Eadie said.
Prior to the most recent
council meetings CEO Rose-
bush had stated he hoped
each council would provide
half of the $440,000. As the
studies were already under-
way, he said if the munici-
palities failed to provide
funding then it would have
to come from the hospital's
operating budget.
In a telephone interview
May 13, Rosebush said he
recognizes the amount of
money was a "huge ask"
especially considering it is
only for studies, but he is
"thrilled" with the amounts
the two councils allocated.
"For them to get behind
us morally is easy; for
them to get behind us with
the resources of the local
taxpayers is a harder chal-
lenge and a harder test for
them, but they arose to
the occasion," Rosebush
said. "It's a difficult thing
for them to be funding,
but this shows that the
whole community as well
as the health centres is
committed to making a
difference in Kincardine."
Asked about where the
remaining $90,000 for the
studies would come from,
Rosebush said the $440,000
figure was calculated with
contingency monies in case
any of the four studies went
over budget.
He said any money
needed over what the coun-
cils have provided will come
from the SBGHC's operating
budget.
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