August 22, 2005
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| Leona cuts the ribbon to launch QHC's redevelopment project. With Leona are Health Minister George Smitherman, Ernie Parsons MPP, Infrastructure Minister David Caplan and Lou Rinaldi MPP. |
Provincial investment will reduce wait times, improve treatment
BELLEVILLE — Quinte residents will have improved access to healthcare, thanks to a major investment in the Quinte Healthcare Corporation's Belleville site.
"This publicly owned hospital will give better access to services to people undergoing surgery, children, acute care and mental health patients in a state-of-the-art facility," said Leona Dombrowsky, MPP for Hastings- Frontenac-Lennox and Addington.
The Quinte Healthcare redevelopment project will involve construction of a new wing to accommodate an expansion including intensive care, supportive services and a children's treatment centre; redeveloping the emergency department and hospital laboratory; redeveloping surgical suites and renovating the medical and mental health unit. Overall the hospital's capacity will increase by 77 beds.
Under the province's ReNew Ontario infrastructure investment plan, over the course of the next five years the government and its partners will invest more than $5 billion in health care facilities.
"This project will ensure people in the Quinte region get the modern, effective health care they need and deserve," said Minister of Health and Long-Term Care George Smitherman
The government has approved the Quinte Healthcare expansion as a construction finance project under its Alternative Financing and Procurement (AFP) strategy, which means that the construction work will be financed and carried out by the private sector.
The construction finance approach will allow for the project to be completed on budget and on time and for the construction risk to be transferred over to the private sector. On-going maintenance and operational services will be managed directly by the hospital.
"On behalf of QHC, I want to thank the Ministries of Public Infrastructure Renewal and Health and Long Term Care for their commitment to the people of Hastings and Prince Edward Counties," said Jack Gibbons, chair of the board of directors at Quinte Health Care. "This announcement represents the culmination of a huge community effort and the hundreds of people who have contributed deserve great credit."
All aspects of the project will be consistent with the principles of the government's Building a Better Tomorrow framework, which clearly states that hospitals must remain under public ownership and control.
