The New Hospital
|
|
By Lori Ledingham
For The Markdale Standard
April 30, 2008 -
I read a story in the Saturday Sun Times about the new Centre Grey Hospital that quoted Minister of Health George Smitherman as saying, “[Markdale area residents] will be the first to know when our government is in a position to make an announcement about rebuilding the hospital in Markdale.”
“I recognize that they like other communities are anxious to see a new hospital. If we are frank about it, we’ve got more than a couple of those across the province of Ontario."
His words were a bit vague, and I wanted to make sure nothing has changed regarding our hospital so I immediately called the chair of the new hospital’s Steering Committee, Dr. Hamilton Hall.
“The minister's comments caught us by surprise,” said Hall. “He was asked about the project out of context, when he was at Bruce Power. But if you read his comments carefully, nothing has changed in terms of our new hospital.”
“The ministry has never said anything other than that this project is moving forward as planned. With the government, anything short of a “no” means keeping moving ahead.”
Smitherman acknowledged that all of the local funds – totaling more than $13 million – required for the project have already been raised.
Hall continued, “We met with members of the Ministry of Health two weeks ago and they are preparing their final comments for us on our Functional Plan. We expect to hear back from the ministry shortly. As far as we are concerned, absolutely nothing has changed with regard to our new hospital.”
I found this news quite reassuring since the Sun Times headline indicated that the hospital might be ‘on hold.’
“Our project is moving ahead,” asserted Hall. “It remains a question of when will we get our hospital, not if. George Smitherman did not put the hospital on hold.”
“Yes, there are other hospital projects across the province that the ministry is looking at but we need to remember that we are one of just a few communities who have raised 100 per cent of the local funds required by the government. That puts us in an excellent position going forward, and that is exactly where our hospital is going.”
I was glad to hear these comments from Hall as he is directly in touch with the ministry officials who are dealing with the plans for the new hospital. It seems like a long wait for the new hospital, but we have to be reassured and trust that the plans are coming together and the project is working its way through the necessary government departments. And yes, it does take a long time!
We have an excellent team at work on seeing the hospital’s plans through to completion and to date, we’ve only heard positive, constructive news and comments from the government and the departments that are scrutinizing the plans. That’s the real news about the new Centre Grey Hospital.
Sign goes up on new hospital site
March 10, 2008
photo credit: Eric Lundsted
By Lori Ledingham
For The Standard
March 10 , 2008 - Hospital officials and local dignitaries gave the Centre Grey community something it’s been waiting to see at Monday’s sign unveiling for the new hospital.
Chair of the Steering Committee for the new hospital, Dr. Hamilton Hall said at the event, “It’s a real thrill to be able to unveil this sign and give the Centre Grey community a peek at how the new hospital will look. It’s been a very long winter and an equally long planning process for the new hospital — this is an opportunity to show the general public some of the results of the work we’ve been doing.”
The sign was erected close to the new hospital building’s proposed main entrance just south of Grey Gables and unveiled under sunny skies Monday morning. It features an artist’s rendering of the new building based on the planning completed to date.
“This is clearly a very positive step in the progress of our new hospital,” said Hall. “This sign confirms to the
community that we are going to have a new hospital. Everyone working on the plans knows that we couldn’t put up this sign if it wasn’t going to happen.”
“Secondly, the government is fully aware of the sign unveiling and by allowing it to go up, the government is indicating its support of our hospital ."
Dan Rose, chair of the Centre Grey Heath Services Foundation, noted at the unveiling, “We live in a great community. None of this would have happened without the generous support of the people of this area. They’re the ones that have made this all possible.”
Also attending was Grey Bruce Health Services CEO Pat Campbell, who said, “We’re very pleased with the progress that has been made in the planning and continue to work very closely with the Ministry of Health to meet all of their planning requirements. We anticipate having feedback from the government on our Functional Program in the near future. Approval of the Functional Program is a critical planning milestone on the way to securing the final approval to build.”
While the Functional Program is under review, the
design team is continuing its work.
Dr. Hall explained, “The current focus of the design team is on ensuring that all of the clinical and patient support systems including computers, pagers, nurse call systems, telephones, and clinical monitoring equipment are fully integrated. There have been tremendous advances in the capability of all of these devices in recent years so every effort is being made to take full advantage of the benefits this equipment can bring to patient comfort and safety, as well as supporting staff and physicians in their work.
Planning also continues for a primary care building to be co-located with the new hospital.
“This adjacent building would be a home for our family doctors, and would undoubtedly attract new doctors to this area. It’s part of the planning for an integrated system of acute, primary and long-term care on one site in Markdale,” said Hall.
“This sign gives the community a stronger sense of the shape and appearance of the new hospital as work continues on the planning and approval process with the Ministry.”
|
The New Centre Grey Hospital Update
January 2008
The design team has begun work on the challenging task of ensuring that all of the clinical and patient support systems, including computers, pagers, nurse call systems, telephones and clinical monitoring equipment are fully integrated. There have been tremendous advances in the capability of all of these devices in recent years, so every effort will be made to take full advantage of the benefits that this equipment can bring to patient comfort and safety, as well as support to our staff in their work.
We now expect a formal response on the Functional Program for the new hospital in mid-February 2008. The hospital and the design team will then have an opportunity to address any issues of concern, as identified by the Ministry of Health, with a decision expected on approval of the Functional Program in mid-March 2008.
Maureen Solecki
Vice President Strategic Planning, Community Relations & Support Services
Grey Bruce Health Services
Chapman’s Completes $1 Million Dollar Pledge
January 16, 2008
Sent to The Markdale Standard, The Flesherton Advance & the Dundalk Herald
Written by Dan Rose, Chair, CGHS Foundation
Dear Editor,
In January 2003 the $12,000,000 “Quality Care Close to You” campaign began and rebuilding the Centre Grey Hospital became the number one topic of conversation in the Centre Grey community.
The first call was to Chapman’s Ice Cream Limited on January 17, 2003. That particular call set the tone for the rest of the campaign. David and Penny Chapman assured us of their 100% support and shortly thereafter, made a pledge of $1,000,000. In the following months of the campaign, the Centre Grey community demonstrated its strong support for a new hospital and on August 31, 2005, the campaign wrapped up with a total of $13,200,000 committed.
Since then there has been steady progress. In May 2006, the Honorable George Smitherman, Minister of Health and Long Term Care, presented Grey Bruce Health Services with a $3,000,000 planning grant. This started an intense planning effort culminating in the submission of the revised Master Program and Plan as well as the Functional Program for the new hospital in mid-October of 2007 to the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care (MOHLTC) for their approval. Locally, Grey Bruce Health Services, the County of Grey and the Municipality of Grey Highlands are finalizing administrative details for the transfer of the property at Grey Gables.
All of this has taken a lot of time and once approval is received much more time will be required to complete the planning. What is encouraging is the positive feedback received from the MOHLTC throughout this project.
Understandably, local people are impatient and some are questioning whether or not the new hospital will ever be built. This is not the case with David and Penny Chapman. Right from the start they have been convinced; both about the need to rebuild the hospital and that the hospital will get final government approval to rebuild. In order to reassure the community, they have encouraged Centre Grey Health Services Foundation (CGHS) to release this information about their pledge. Every year, their pledge payment has arrived right on schedule and on November 29, 2007, David Chapman presented the CGHS Foundation Treasurer, Dick Kavanagh, with a cheque for $200,000; their fifth and final pledge payment, which completed their $1,000,000 pledge to the campaign.
On behalf of Centre Grey Health Services Foundation, I want to thank David and Penny Chapman for their leadership, their influence and for their outstanding financial support throughout the “Quality Care Close to You” campaign.
Sincerely,
Dan Rose, Chair
Centre Grey Health Services Foundation
The New Centre Grey Hospital Update
December 2007
The Steering Committee was delighted to receive the latest architect’s rendering of the new hospital at its November 2007 meeting. The project feels ‘real’ when it begins to take shape in this type of drawing. A sign marking the site of the new hospital will be erected soon at Grey Gables in Markdale to provide the community with its first glimpse of the hospital.
The planning process continues with the submission of the Functional Program for the new hospital in mid-October. This is a major planning milestone so as a result, it is expected that a formal response from the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care will not be received until early in the New Year (2008). This is in keeping with the normal planning timeframes for major hospital capital projects.
Maureen Solecki
Vice President Strategic Planning, Community Relations & Support Services
Grey Bruce Health Services
Artist’s Rendering of New Centre Grey Hospital
The New Centre Grey Hospital Update
September 2007
The hospital Project Team received formal comments on the Master Plan back from the Ministry of Health in early August 2007 and is in the process of finalizing a lengthy response to that document.
As we have been working through this response, we have received great support from the staff of the Health Reform Implementation Team (HRIT) section of the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care (MOHLTC). This is the branch of the MOHLTC that is responsible for reviewing the programmatic aspects of hospital capital projects.
The Project Team hopes that the extensive input being provided to the HRIT on the Master Plan at this time, will expedite the review and approval of our Functional Program planned for submission in the coming months.
While the process of careful review by the MOHLTC of all of our planning documents seems like a long one for everyone who is excited and interested in the timing of our re-build; it’s the same process that every community goes through in seeking final approval for major hospital building projects.
Artist's Rendering -
New Hospital Entrance
The New Centre Grey Hospital Update
August 2nd, 2007
Planning for the new Centre Grey Hospital is proceeding well.
- The hospital’s Project Team is receiving comments on the Master Plan/Program submission from the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care
- The MOH feedback will assist the Project Team in finalizing the Functional Program that is scheduled to be submitted in early September 2007
- The Functional Program contains details on all hospital services, staffing and space requirements
- The Functional Program represents a key milestone in the project and must be approved by the MOH for the project to proceed to implementation
The New Centre Grey Hospital Update
June 2007
Much has been accomplished since the Ministry’s approval of our $3 million planning grant in May of 2006.
A major milestone in the planning process has been achieved with the submission of the Master Plan to the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care (MOHLTC). A meeting to receive the MOHLTC feedback will take place in early summer 2007.
A very positive meeting was held with Grey County and the Municipality of Grey Highlands with respect to the building site.
Work is underway with respect to the property acquisition. The final placement of the hospital on the Grey Gables site has been adjusted to accommodate Ministry of Health requirements for hospital expansion. It is now expected that the Memorial Grove will no longer need to be re-located.
Equipment consultants have begun the extensive process of creating an inventory of all existing equipment and the determination of building design and functional requirements for equipment installation.
Staff, managers and physicians have been working very closely with the architects to move from the schematic design completed in April to actual room layouts for all areas of the hospital. This work has required a real effort by all of the staff involved as there are many other initiatives underway at the same time. However, staff have noted how exciting it is to see their new hospital taking shape before their eyes.
All members of the Steering Committee and the Design Team are working very aggressively to complete the design by late summer/early fall for submission to the government for approval to implement. The Steering Committee will be meeting in late July to review progress at that time.
|
