The Chatham-Kent Health Alliance will soon be seeking public input on new design possibilities for its Wallaceburg site.
As part of the Wallaceburg hospital redevelopment project, the engagement steering committee held its first meeting in early March. The committee consists of board members, staff, physicians, community leaders and municipal representatives.
Lori Marshall, president and CEO of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA), said the meeting provided an opportunity for the committee to hear from project consultants on the design process and begin generating ideas.
She said the next steps in the design process include one-on-one interviews with community representatives, followed by public engagement events in Wallaceburg and across Chatham-Kent.
Marshall said representatives from the hospital will likely be attending several public events in CK over the next few months.
“That would be terrific over the next little while to truly get an understanding from the community about what they would like to see in the Wallaceburg hospital in terms of the actual design,” she said. “The consultants have got pictures of different renderings of different kinds of looks, just to feel out what people think they would like to see.”
Marshall said public consultations will focus on the overall look of the hospital rather than the hospital services, which have already been determined in previous plans.
She said several important questions need to be answered before design plans can be finalized.
“When the east side of the building comes down, what would that space look like and how would we use that outdoor space in different ways? There are questions about what should the inside focus on. Should it focus on easy wayfinding, should it focus on being very pleasing in terms of the aesthetics?” Marshall said.
The current redevelopment plans for the Wallaceburg hospital site include new medical beds, a diagnostic imaging department, and a laboratory, as well as a newly constructed building for the emergency department. The current emergency department at the Wallaceburg hospital is slated to be converted into additional space for ambulatory care services.
A new power plant has already been constructed as part of the first phase of the redevelopment project.
