Huron-Bruce MPP Carol Mitchell is pressing Health Minister David Caplan, and Ministry staff to approve an addition to the Walkerton hospital to house the Brockton and Area Family Health Team.
The South Bruce Grey Health Centre submitted financial and technical information for the request back in April 2009 and the ministry asked for more information in May, which the hospital corporation supplied on June 11th.
MPP Carol Mitchell is disappointed the approval process is taking so long and has been meeting with the Minister and staff, making the case to get it looked after quickly.
Mitchell says the ministry is working on due diligence to make sure the funding raised by the community is available to cover the project.
She says the project has to go forward because it’s a “shovel ready” infrastructure project that meets all of the criteria and doesn’t demand any further funding from the province.
Mitchell says this week she’ll be stressing the need for the ministry to commit to an approval timeline that it should honour.
She says the delays are affecting the ability to fundraise for the project and to recruit doctors and other health professionals to Brockton.
Mayor Charlie Bagnato says area citizens and corporations raised nearly 1.7 million dollars for the project and it sits waiting to be built.
He says in a year when governments want shovel ready projects, it’s disappointing that nothing is happening when the shovels are ready and nothing is happening.