The Lucknow Sentinel, 2015-10-28, Page 7Wednesday, October 28, 2015 • Lucknow Sentinel 7
Huron -Kinloss Council asked to help fund Wingham and District Hospital Foundation
Valerie Gillies
Lucknow Sentinel
Karl Ellis, CEO and President of
the Wingham and District Hospital
Foundation was joined by Bernie
Bailey to make a presentation to
Huron -Kinloss Council during the
Council meeting held on October
19, 2015.
The campaign that Ellis and Bai-
ley were presenting is called "Our
Hospital, Our Future: The goal of
this fundraising campaign is to
reach $4 million in donations over
the next two to three years.
Ellis pointed out that only 90% of
health care renovation expenses
are funded by the Ministry of
Health and Long Term Care
(MOHLTC). The remaining 10%
has to be funded by the commu-
nity. MOHLTC does not supply
funds for equipment.
The dilemma the Wingham
Hospital if facing is, in order to
meet new ministry standards,
more space is needed to provide
some of the services the hospital
provides. However, the footprint
of the existing hospital cannot be
expanded on the current site. To
create more space, the hospital
has purchased the former Wing -
ham Public School which is
located directly across the road
from the hospital site. The plan
is to create a two-story medical
clinic in the auditorium while
the rest of the building will be
rented out to other health-care
providers. This would bring the
health services into one health-
care campus, rather than being
spread out throughout the
community.
Ellis described the future plans
of the hospital. It is a goal to
streamline patient care by having
more equipment being moved
around the hospital rather than
transferring the patients from
floor to floor as they cycle
through the care services. It is a
goal to create an ambulatory
clinic within the hospital. The
entrance has already been
improved for accessibility.
Both Ellis and Bailey stressed
that the Oncology Clinic at the
Wingham hospital is the only one
in Huron and Bruce County,
making it the only place for
local patients to receive
chemotherapy.
Bailey spoke about the fundrais-
ing campaign. The campaign is
planned to run for 18 months, or
until the goal of $4 million is met.
Pledges can be spread over five
years and construction is planned
to be completed in two and a half
years.
The trend in health care funding
is the same as in most sectors, as
the government is backing off,
leaving the provision of health
care services to be community
driven.
Valerie Gillies Lucknow Sentinel
Karl Ellis (back right), CEO of the Listowel Wingham Hospital Alliance and President of Wingham and District Hospital Foundation was joined by Bernie Bailey to
make a presentation to the Huron -Kinloss Council during their Council meeting on October 19, 2015. Ellis and Bailey are asking the various municipalities which
the Wingham and District Hospital serves to commit to donating to the Hospital Foundation towards renovations and equipment.
This particular presentation to
Huron -Kinloss Council was to ask
for funds due to the fact that 18%
of those who come to the Wing -
ham hospital for care are from
Huron -Kinloss, with this number
not including tourists or seasonal
residents. When asked what
amount Bailey would like to ask
for, he hesitated, as he felt it was
better to ask for what is realisti-
cally needed overall now, rather
than ask for less and have to
come back later to ask for more.
Bailey asserted that whatever
contribution they get is great, but
they really would like to ask for
$500 thousand over a 5 year
period.
Councillor James Hannah
remarked that Huron -Kinloss
Council supports the hospital and
had previously committed to
$17,500 for doctor recruitment.
After a discussion, Mayor Mitch
Twolan assured Ellis and Bailey
that their request for funding
would be taken into consideration
by Council, but that it needed to be
discussed much further with both
Council and staff before any deci-
sion could be made. The request
will be brought forward later as a
budget item.
On behalf of the Wingham and
District Hospital Foundation, Bai-
ley assured Council that they are
continuing to seek out funding
from as many sources as they can
throughout their campaign. Pri-
vate donations received will make
a difference in how much will
need to be committed by the vari-
ous municipalities to reach their
goal.
Further down the agenda the
Association of Municipalities of
Ontario had submitted a letter to
Huron -Kinloss to support a reso-
lution form Parry Sound for each
municipality to donate at least
$100 to as support for the Syrian
Refugee Crisis. A debate fol-
lowed in which the Council was
divided in that some felt that it
was more important to support
local projects such as the hospi-
tal had presented. However it
was pointed out that $100 is not
a large ask and that making the
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donation would be an indication
that Huron -Kinloss agrees with
the other municipalities in this
matter. It was pointed out that
Councillors were free to make
larger personal donations, if they
wished, to augment the small
amount asked for. This was a
tough decision for Council.
When a vote was taken, the
motion was carried to go ahead
with making the $100 donation
on behalf of the municipality to
the Support for the Syrian
Refugee Crisis.
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