Ontario Construction News staff writer
Two Southwestern Ontario hospitals and two healthcare centres are getting $4.4 million from the province for “critical upgrades and repairs.”
Four Counties Health Services in Newbury, Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital, the Westover Treatment Centre in Thamesville, and Chatham-Kent Community Health Centres will split the $4.4 million in funding announced on Wednesday.
About $3.7 million will go to Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital to add two new chillers to support the building’s cooling system.
“This infrastructure funding is of vital importance to support aging hospitals, like ours,” Middlesex Hospital Alliance president and CEO Julie McBrien said in a news release.
“These infrastructure projects make our hospital environment better for our patients, families, staff and physicians, and enables us to deliver on our mission and vision.”
Four Counties Health Services will use $264,957 to replace exhaust fan units. The multi-year project will ultimately improve the hospital’s air quality and promote energy conservation, according to the province.
The Westover Treatment Centre, an addiction treatment facility in Thamesville, is receiving $365,000, and Chatham-Kent Community Health Centres is in line for $103,500 from the province.
The money “will ensure patients and families can continue to receive access to world-class medical care close to home,” Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Monte McNaughton said in a news release Wednesday.
“Today’s funding will ensure more people in southwestern Ontario can receive the quality health-care services they need quickly,” he said.
The funding for the four area health centres is part of a $200 million investment to hospitals through the Health Infrastructure Renewal Fund and over $8.4 million to community health service providers through the Community Infrastructure Renewal Fund.
The investment targets infrastructure renewal needs such as upgrades or replacements of roofs, windows, security systems, fire alarms and back-up generators