Opponents of the County Road 42 location chosen for the region’s proposed megahospital delivered a 1,121-signature petition Friday morning that asks that the Ontario government press the reset button on choosing the site.
“We know it’s a huge investment, but it has to be done right,” Philippa Von Ziegenweidt, a spokeswoman for Citizens for an Accountable Megahospital Planning Process, said after handing the petition to staff at MPP Lisa Gretzky’s (NDP — Windsor West) constituency office. She was accompanied by about 20 CAMPP supporters who’ve been calling for the new hospital to be located in Windsor’s urban core, rather than the site chosen by the megahospital’s site selection committee — a 60-acre bean field just south of Windsor Airport.
“I’m just blown away by how many people are here to support the other side of the argument,” Von Ziegenweidt said.
They’ve asked Gretzky to present the petition in the Ontario legislature. Gretzky wasn’t present to accept it Friday but in a statement provided to the Star, she gave no indication she agreed with the CAMPP group. “As the provincial representative of Windsor West, it is my duty to bring the concerns of those living in the riding to Queen’s Park,” she said, adding “I fully respect their right to be heard.”
Almost half the signatures CAMPP collected came from Elaine Sharp who knocked on doors throughout Windsor’s inner city. She said she was very disappointed to learn how many people had no knowledge of what was being proposed in the $2-billion project — replacing the existing Met and Ouellette acute care hospitals with a single acute hospital on County Road 42, building a new urgent care centre at the former Grace hospital site, demolishing the Met site and turning the Ouellette site into a Hotel-Dieu Grace centre for outpatient mental health and chronic disease management.
“Many had absolutely no clue that Met will be closed and the plans for Hotel-Dieu downtown as well,” said Sharp. “They were horrified.”
Philippa von Ziegenweidt, left, and other concerned residents converge at the constituency office of MPP Lisa Gretzky Friday April 15, 2016. The local group is petitioning to restart site selection process for Windsor and Essex County’s new, mega-hospital.
Von Ziegenweidt said the fact 1,121 people have signed the petition “shows that people are really passionate about what’s happening and I think it shows that they’re very dissatisfied with the process so far.”
She said the petition is just one part of the group’s strategy. “We’re going to see a huge turnout at council on Monday,” she said, referring to the 2.19 per cent tax hike being recommended to pay for the Windsor’s share (about $108 million ) of the hospital project. Though the Health Ministry has provided about $3 million to plan the new hospital, it hasn’t given its final approval.
Windsor Regional Hospital CEO David Musyj said if city and county council reject the levy, which is required to pay for 10 per cent of the cost, “It would pretty much guarantee the project is over.”
And he said following CAMPP’s urging to restart the site selection process would mean going back four years. And the government, which has already paid for four years of planning, would say “we’re not paying for that.”
If anything, most people in the community want the process sped up, not delayed, Musyj said.
“I respect this group’s right and ability to object … but again, there’s been overwhelming support.”
He said everyone knew from the start that not everyone would be happy with the chosen site. “But we’ve got to move forward, because if we make these 1,000 people happy, and I don’t know if we can, then we’re going to upset tens of thousands.”
On Friday, crews were at the University Avenue site of the proposed urgent care centre erecting a big sign. It’s part of the original plan to identify the key sites in the hospital plan, said Windsor Regional spokesman Ron Foster. A sign will also soon be going up at the acute hospital site on County Road 42.
If everything goes perfectly with the planning, construction could start in three to four years, and would take three to four years to complete.
