G&M gets planning grant funds
Barrie MPP Ann Hoggarth was in Alliston Monday to announce up to $500,000 in funding from the province for both Collingwood General and Marine Hospital (CGMH) and Stevenson Memorial Hospital, to help plan for the proposed redevelopment and expansion of each hospital.
As outlined in MPP Hoggarth’s press release, for CGMH this is the proposed redevelopment of the entire facility to meet the health service needs for residents in the area.
CGMH President and CEO, Norah Holder, thanked Hoggarth and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, noting, “We are very grateful to receive this portion of planning grant funding, as we continue along our redevelopment journey, seeking a new facility to meet the needs of a quickly expanding South Georgian Bay region.”
Simcoe-Grey MPP Jim Wilson was also present at the event and noted that he is appreciative the provincial government has finally responded to his numerous requests to release planning grant funding for expansion projects in Collingwood and Alliston, but says there still is a lot of work to do.
“This is a good start and a positive step. The hospitals in Collingwood and Alliston each have spent more than $1.2 million of their own money on redevelopment planning,” said Wilson. “I appreciate the $500,000 for each hospital announced today, but would like to remind the government there is a long way to go through the five stages of planning, which will cost up to $12 million.”
As noted in the press release, planning grants provide funding for early planning stages only — a planning grant does not mean approval to build.
Additionally, a planning grant provides resources for hospitals to work with their Local Health Integration Network and the province to ensure a project is of appropriate scope and scale.
The results of planning inform more sustainable, fiscal planning for communities.
CGMH began its redevelopment journey approximately three years ago and submitted its Stage 1 submission, Master Plan/Master Program, approximately 18 months ago. “We now look forward to receiving approval of our Stage 1 submission and moving to Stage 2 of the five stage process,” said Holder.
