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(Posted 5:30
a.m., Jan. 12)
Long-awaited health hub to be built on Mer Bleue Road
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online
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 Champlain
Local Health Integration Network CEO Dr. Robert Cushman speaks about the
benefits of the Orléans Family Health Hub in front of a display board showing
the future location of the health care facility. Fred Sherwin/Photo
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After months
of speculation, the future location of the $150 million Orléans Family Health
Hub has finally been revealed.
Speaking in front of a standing room only crowd
at the Ray Friel Centre on Monday, Montfort Hospital CEO Dr. Bernard Leduc
announced that the health complex will be built on Mer Bleue Road, 1.5 km
south of Innes Road.
"With a
growing population that includes increasing numbers of both young families
and seniors, Orléans has a mounting need for diversified, quality
health care,” said Dr. Leduc. “As it stands, the current model
is unable to meet existing needs. By offering one-stop health care access
the Orléans Family Health Hub is the ideal solution."
The health hub
will be the first of its kind in Ontario, delivering front-line services
such as day surgery, kidney dialysis, cancer treatment, urgent care services,
geriatrics, mental health services and family health services through a
multidisciplinary approach.
The health hub
is designed to save money and ease the pressure on hospitals which are over-burdened
trying to provide services of a non-critical nature.
The announcement
was hailed by Ottawa-Orléans MPP Phil McNeely who first championed the idea
of building a family health hub in Orléans during the 2003 provincial election.
"This is
great news for the residents of Orléans," said McNeely. "I made
this a priority when I first got elected and I'm thrilled and immensely
proud that it is becoming a reality."
Depending on
the availability of funding, construction of the health hub could begin
as early as March 2011. The province is expected to fund two-thirds of the
$150 million facility. The remaining $50 million must be raised through
community fundraising efforts which were kicked off during Monday's press
conference with the announcement of a $3 million donation from the Taggart
Group of Companies which owns the land the health hub will be built on.
The location
won out over other proposed sites including the northeast corner of Trim
Road and St. Joseph Blvd., and the Minto Business Park just south of the
Place d'Orléans Park and Ride lot on Champlain Road.
The chosen site
is in the heart of the Orleans Industrial Park. Situated on the east side
of Mer Bleue Road between the existing hydro corridor and the future Blackburn
Bypass Extension, the complex is likely to spur additional development in
the area.
Plans to widen
Mer Bleue Road from two to four lanes from Innes Road to the Blackburn Bypass
Extension have already been approved as part of a number of Infrastructure
Stimulus Funding projects announced last spring.
The Blackburn
Bypass Extension is scheduled to be completed with bus lanes by the end
of 2011. Additional plans call for the construction of the Cumberland Transitway,
following the existing hydro corridor, as part of the city's Master Transportation
Plan.
(This story
was made possible thanks to thie generous support of our local
business partners.)
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