The head of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance says provincial funding for a new power plant at the Wallaceburg hospital is an investment in the future of health care in the community.
Friday, MPP Monte McNaughton announced $7.3 million dollars in funding, with construction on the new power plant getting underway this week.
CEO Lori Marshall says the power plant is the first phase of the organization’s overall redevelopment plans for Wallaceburg.
“If we were just looking at sustaining the current building, we would not have needed the level of infrastructure that is going into this power plant, we could have just replaced a boiler or some of those kinds of things,” Marshall says. “What this power plant actually does is gives us the level of infrastructure to truly support new build, new code requirements, all those kind of things.”
Marshall says the investment from the province paves the way for future redevelopment.
“It’s a redevelopment of the emergency department and the diagnostic imaging area and lab area, and moving those from the east side of the hospital over to a new build area,” Marshall explains. “It would (also) include demolition of the current east side of the current site and then, at some stage in the future after that development, would be further development of more ambulatory care services.”
The plans for the Wallaceburg site, which are currently being reviewed by the Ministry of Health, include maintaining a 24-hour emergency department, five inpatient beds, expanded ambulatory care, diagnostic imaging, and lab services, among other things.
