Ontario Construction News staff writer
Three local hospitals in Leeds and Grenville will receive more than $2.3 million from the provincial government to address critical repairs and maintenance, Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes MPP Steve Clark announced last week.
“Our government is making these investments at a time when it’s more important than ever to ensure the frontline healthcare heroes working in our local hospitals have a modern and safe environment to do their jobs,” said Clark. “This funding also demonstrates our commitment to keeping hospitals well-maintained, which is an essential part of patient care.”
The funding is part of the $175 million Ontario is investing this year through the Health Infrastructure Renewal Fund for maintenance and repairs at 129 hospitals across the province. The funding includes $50 million for COVID-19 related projects.
Brockville General Hospital will receive $973,733, Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital gets $923,866 and Kemptville District Hospital’s share is $425,177.
“Our reality is that BGH must continue to adapt to the new infection prevention and control requirements associated with COVID-19, and through our tower, we will expand to better meet our community’s growing healthcare needs,” said Jim Cooper, Chair, Board of Directors, Brockville General Hospital.
“This funding will help us address some of our aging infrastructure and systems in the current buildings so we can continue to deliver the best health care experience that our community expects.”
Officials say infrastructure funding is key to maintaining the physical structure of hospital sites and will help provide the best care possible to the community.
“During these unprecedented and turbulent times, hospitals face an array of financial pressures. One of those pressures is ensuring that our aging physical plants are maintained. The Hospital Infrastructure Renewal Funding program is a vital source of capital to ensure that our buildings are maintained to code and high quality standards so we can continue to provide excellent care and our staff, physicians and volunteers have a safe place to work,” said Kemptville District Hospital CEO Frank Vassallo.
Funds will help hospitals address urgent issues such as upgrades or replacement of roofs, windows, security systems, backup generators and fire alarms. Projects will also support the hospitals in their ongoing response to COVID-19, such as updating HVAC systems to enhance patient and staff safety, creating additional isolation space and negative air pressure flow rooms to increase capacity and enhancing infection prevention and control measures.
“Our ongoing investments to support essential projects like repairing roofs and windows and adding more isolation spaces can make a big difference to a patient’s experience,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.