If you have concerns about the location of Windsor's new acute care hospital on County Rd. 42, there is a public forum in Windsor to discuss it.
The Citizens for an Accountable Mega-Hospital Planning Process, or CAMPP, is one of five community groups hosting a public meeting at the University of Windsor's School of Social Work downtown.
The meeting at 167 Ferry St. starts at 7pm Tuesday night and those who oppose the site are hoping to make it an issue in the upcoming provincial vote in June.
Ontario Health Coalition Executive Director Natalie Mehra says, "If regular people raise their voices on this now, together we can make an enormous difference in thousands of peoples' lives."
Dr. Eric Hoskins, Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, officially announces the new Windsor-Essex mega hospital at Windsor Regional Hospitals Ouellette campus on December 1, 2017. Photo by Mark Brown/Blackburn News.
While Ontario's former Health Minister, Eric Hoskins said the location was a done deal, but during a meeting in Windsor in February with Windsor residents, Premier Kathleen Wynne said it was not.
That has prompted questions from county politicians who have asked the premier for clarification.
They are not alone.
"Our grassroots citizen advocacy group is saying this is not a done deal, and we are calling on the provincial government to rethink this plan," says Philippa von Ziegenweidt with CAMPP.
Her group has long argued the location on County Rd. 42 is too far to travel for residents living in the west end of Windsor. It is not satisfied with assurances from the province that a new urgent care centre will be located downtown, saying it will close each night at 9pm and cab fare will cost low-income residents more than $70 to travel to the new acute care facility.
"Hospitals in Windsor do need to be fixed and renewed," says Michael Hurley, president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions. "This proposed privately-owned, enormously expensive mega-hospital, so far removed from the downtown that abandons the vulnerable inner-city population, is planning gone horribly wrong."
Windsor Regional Hospital sent in the paperwork outlining its zoning submission to the city and secondary plan to build the new hospital in February, a requirement to continue the planning process.