The president and CEO of Windsor Regional Hospital isn't worried about a potential change in provincial government.
With the dropping of the writ for the upcoming Ontario provincial election expected within the next week, David Musyj is confident that the Windsor-Essex mega hospital project will remain on track once the next legislature is in place this summer.
Musyj says this is a rare instance in which all of Ontario's political parties are on board with a massive project such as the proposed development near Windsor Airport.
"It's been indicated that the three major parties have all come out on the record and indicated that they support the need for infrastructure and investment in Windsor-Essex, that they support the process for the location, that they support all of that," says Musyj.
Musyj says he is grateful to the three local NDP MPPs, Lisa Gretzky, Percy Hatfield and Taras Natyshak, for being supportive of the mega-hospital from the beginning. He also points out that it was the majority Liberal government that helped move the project forward, and the Progressive Conservatives have gone on record to say not only is the mega hospital a good idea, but it should have happened years ago.
WRH is also grateful for the support at the city and county level, which Musyj says encompasses all political parties.
The mega hospital is currently in Stage 2 of its planning, meaning that preliminary plans for the physical layout of the development, plus the services to be offered there, are being worked out.
Once the election call is made, Musyj says all parties involved will be in a holding pattern until the new government is sworn in. He says no matter who forms Ontario's next government after the June election; he's not expecting the situation to change.
"We're in the queue now," says Musyj. "Once you're in Stage 2, you have a project that's in front of Infrastructure Ontario. We're moving forward. If there happens to be a change in government, they'll stand back and reassess where things are, and start determining how to move forward."
The Ontario government's commitment to the mega hospital was officially announced in December, despite a vow from groups such as the Citizens for an Accountable Megahospital Planning Process (CAMPP) to keep fighting for a location closer to Windsor's city centre.