It’s another step forward in the development of Markdale’s long-awaited hospital.
The Ministry of Health has approved the pre-tender documents submitted earlier this spring by Grey Bruce Health Services to build a new hospital in Markdale.
This approval allows them to move to the final stages of the project which is issuing a call for tenders for construction, awarding the contract and and then building it.
“This was the final stage that we’ve been waiting to get to,” says Grey Bruce Health Services President and CEO Gary Sims. He adds, “This is great news for patients in Centre Grey and for local businesses who will benefit from this multi-million dollar infrastructure project.”
Sims says it’s an approximately $70 million dollar project, funded 90 per cent by the government and 10 per cent by the community.
Sims says the hospital has been about 20 years in the making, noting, “On average, first of all, new hospital builds are very rare to begin with certainly in the last 20 years. It’s been a time of real fiscal constraint so there are very few hospitals that have been built, and if they are, they’re built completely out of necessity as is the case here.”
Sims says approval on average takes somewhere between 10 and 15 years, “It is never a rapid approval.”
He says its wonderful for the community to see such a reward at the end of all the hard work.
Sims explains the goal now is to release the tender package by mid-September.
Construction companies will have six weeks to prepare their bids, and once the Ministry approves the bid, GBHS can award the contract.
The construction company will determine the start date for building the new hospital, and GBHS is optimistic that shovels will be in the ground by early 2021.
The new hospital will be located next to the Grey Gables long-term care home in Markdale. The building will be 68,000 square feet and will include four acute care beds, a palliative care room, 24/7 emergency room with four exam and treatment areas, a laboratory, medical imaging services, ambulatory care clinics, and two ambulance bays.
Sims notes it is designed to be able to handle the addition of beds sometime in the future if they become needed.
Meanwhile, Bruce Grey Owen Sound MPP Bill Walker says in a statement, “I am very pleased that the Ministry of Health has approved Grey Bruce Health Services to move forward with the tender process for a new hospital in Markdale.”
Betty Bassett, Board Chair of Centre Grey Health Services Foundation says, “This new hospital will make a huge difference to countless patients and their families
for decades to come,” adding “We are beyond excited and cannot wait to work with the entire community to turn this project into reality.”
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