Project News
October 2008
In a joint announcement, The McCausland Hospital and the Townships of Terrace Bay and Schreiber wish to confirm their commitment to The McCausland Hospital Long Term Care Project.
On October 28th, the Chair of the Board of Governors of The McCausland Hospital, Mayors of both Townships, and staff met and discussed the status of the project and strategies for moving it forward.
McCausland Hospital Board Chair Ann Ray stated, "The McCausland Hospital continues to work with MPP Michael Gravelle and the Ministry of Health & Long Term Care to secure the additional funds necessary to begin construction of this project. The Board and Staff of The McCausland Hospital are strongly committed to ensuring the construction of a 22-bed Long Term Care wing to meet the needs of our catchment area."
"The importance of the Long Term Care Project to the residents of our towns cannot be overstated, from both health and economic perspectives. The Councils of both Townships have been supportive of this project since day one, and we want to go on record as continuing our support to keep it moving forward." commented Mayor Mike King of Terrace Bay.
The Long Term Care Project has been underway for eight years under the leadership of the Hospital Board and fully supported by the Councils of both Townships. To date, significant funding has been committed by the Province of Ontario, the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) and numerous individual and corporate donors.
To date, FedNor (Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario) has not allocated funds to the project and a previous grant application was not approved. The McCausland Hospital intends to resubmit a revised application to FedNor soon and both Townships have indicated their intention to actively support the application.
Recently the project was tendered and the bids received were in the neighbourhood of $492 per square foot. The Board determined this was excessive as a local institutional project (school) was constructed in 2007 for $255 per square foot. McCausland senior staff, in consultation with the Ministry of Health, is reworking the LTC project tender specifications in light of this information. The modified project will be re-tendered in early 2009 in the hope of more reasonable results in light of the new financial reality.
An open forum is planned in the near future to provide updated information to the public regarding the status and future direction for the McCausland Long Term Care Project.
For more information:
Paul Paradis
Chief Executive Officer
The McCausland Hospital
807-825-3273, ext 150
Mike King
Mayor
Township of Terrace Bay
807-825-3315
