The site selected for the new acute care hospital at County Rd. 42 and the Ninth Concession. (Photo by Maureen Revait) The site selected for the new acute care hospital at County Rd. 42 and the Ninth Concession. (Photo by Maureen Revait)
Windsor

Essex County Politicians Ask Premier To Come Clean About New Hospital

Some members of Essex County council are asking the premier to clarify hospital comments she made in Windsor last week.

Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara and County Warden Tom Bain want to know what Kathleen Wynne meant on February 15, when she told a public forum at the St. Clair Centre for the Arts that the location of the new hospital is still up in the air.

They both say Health Minister Eric Hoskins has already confirmed the location is County Rd. 42 and 9th Concession across from the Windsor Airport.

McNamara says he's a little confused by the whole thing.

"What's up in the air? Is it the Grace site in terms of the emergency facility being built at Hotel Dieu Grace or is it the hospital itself? asks McNamara.

Premier Wynne says the site has not been zoned yet but Mayor Drew Dilkens says it should be rezoned this spring.

Minister Hoskins says an urgent-care facility will complement the new hospital but it has yet to be determined if it will remain at the Ouellette Campus or if it will be built on the former Grace Hospital site.

McNamara says the county needs some answers.

"I think somebody needs to be reminded that the county is contributing $100-million. This is not chump change and the requirements of the county, I think, have to be addressed," McNamara says.

Bain promises to get to the bottom of it.

"I almost fell out of my chair when the premier said we're 'still up in the air.' We need a little clarification on whether she was talking about one of the individual sites and doing different operations there or whether she was talking about the site of the mega-hospital," says Bain.

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