Group Health Centre officials hope to make an announcement regarding their plans for a new, main building in late spring 2017.
That from Alex Lambert, Group Health Centre president and CEO, speaking to SooToday Monday.
“This is still at the feasibility stage and at the end of the day the Ministry will have to approve this and all signs are positive…but the process takes time,” Lambert said.
“We do,” Lambert said when asked if GHC has a preferred location in mind for a new building, adding it would be premature to disclose that information without a solid funding commitment from the province.
Lambert said GHC is still looking at various location options and will be seeking patient input into the design of the facility.
As reported earlier Sault MPP David Orazietti announced the province would provide $500,000 for a study examining the need for a new GHC building.
GHC wants to build a new, central facility to replace the current 50-year-old GHC building at 240 McNabb Street, and bring its current seven GHC offices, which are spread out across the city, under one roof.
In May, Lambert estimated the new building would be a $40 million to $50 million project.
The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care would be the major contributor of funding for the new building, though fundraising and other financing options will be a part of the picture as well.
“Since we made the announcement in May, part of what we’ve been doing is identifying exactly what stream of funding we’re going to be put through from the Ministry,” Lambert said.
Because a new GHC building would be unique in that it would be much more than a doctors building and less than a full-scale hospital, the funding process is “much less defined,” Lambert said.
“We’re going through a new process called the Community Health Planning Process (CHPP), it’s new, and it’s a very spreadsheet-heavy process the Ministry is using to determine our funding.”
“We’re not going to know exactly what kind of project we have until we get through to the end of the CHPP in late spring. We’re still working with the Ministry of Health to determine the scope and nature of the project,” Lambert said.
“I don’t think the timeline is going to be impacted by this process, “ Lambert said, anticipating if all goes well, there will be a new GHC main building in place by 2020 or 2021.