Back the Build

Project expected to move on to Stage Four

An announcement is expected in the near future that the proposed new hospital in Picton will move on to Stage Four of the build process. The road to get here has been a story of a community that has fought passionately to retain and enhance its health care services. After hearing there was a possibility that the Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital was on the chopping block, the entire community responded stridently to make their voices heard by the decision-makers at Queen’s Park. Busloads of County residents proudly wearing their POOCH (Patrons Of Our County Hospital) badges showed up on the Legislature grounds. Their lobbying efforts bore fruit, and in 2017 the government acknowledged that hospital services needed to remain in the County—as long as the community could come up with funds to support the building of a new hospital. The Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital Foundation (PECMHF) sprang into action. “We needed to find out whether or not our community had the capacity to raise its local share for the hospital. The funding formula is typically that the Ministry of Health pays for 90 per cent of the bricks and mortar and the community would have to raise 10 per cent of the cost of the build and any furnishings, plus the community is responsible for raising money to purchase the needed medical equipment that goes into the hospital,” says PECMHF executive director Shannon Coull. “In 2017 we were given the green light to start those studies and explore with the community whether we could raise that money. The original target for fundraising was $16.5 million, based on a hospital that was going to be 80,000 square feet and providing the same services that are provided today.” The fundraising campaign was launched in 2018 under Stage Two of the process, and by the time that the government actually committed to building the hospital at the initiation of Stage Three in June 2020, the Foundation and the community had already raised over $11.3 million.

The project is virtually on the doorstep of Stage Four and the initial fundraising goal has been surpassed, but the goalposts have been moved over the past two years, in large part due to lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the inescapable fact of inflation and rising material costs. “We are anticipating it’s going to cost more than what was originally projected. There are new infection control measures that we need to adjust the hospital layout to accommodate— for example there is now a separate entrance and a separate exit, and that’s the case for the emergency department, the staff entrances as well as the main entrance to the hospital,” says Coull. “In addition to that we’ve also been aware of how important it is to have health care close to home, but there are some services that are not provided right now in our community that require people for example to go to Belleville General Hospital for those services, and we are now in a position to explore adding those enhanced services to our hospital.” The modified building design will have a slightly larger footprint, and the Foundation is looking at including environmental sustainability features in the new build. “We didn’t think we had the capacity in our community to raise those additional funds and we’ve had several donors come forward who have given us the opportunity to explore adding those enhancements to the design, which is really, really exciting,” says Coull.

PECMHF executive director Shannon Coull speaks at the Regent Theatre during an event honouring long-time County hospital advocate Leo Finnegan.

The coming announcement from the Ministry of Health will provide an updated estimate of the cost and the new amount the community will need to raise. Coull is optimistic that the new fundraising goal will be met. “We have a sense of how much it is going to cost—it’s going to cost more, but we want to have those enhancements included in our hospital build—and it’s so wonderful we already have donors lined up to cover those costs. This is a very exciting time and we are so close to being able to share with the community how much the build will cost and how much more we have to raise between now and 2027 when we are expecting the hospital to be open. We’ve got five more years to raise the balance and we don’t have that much further to go,” she says. Actual construction is slated to begin in 2025, but shovels have already been in the ground with an archaeology dig. No historical or Indigenous artifacts were found, so the site has been given the go-ahead. Construction of an access road and relocation of the helipad is scheduled for spring 2023.

The Foundation has been overwhelmed by the generous spirit of the community. Coull says that the initial feasibility study in 2017 revealed some potential donors, but the picture grew much larger when fundraising actually got under way. “The study didn’t reveal how compassionate— and passionate—our donors are about our hospital. We have been able to raise more than we ever thought we could, and I believe there’s still more capacity out there to help ensure we have all the services we need and want and deserve, and that’s a result of our incredible, generous community,” she says. “The very large gifts are so appreciated, but what’s even more heartwarming is the outpouring of support of people who made donations for food for hospital staff during the pandemic, the third-party events like bake sales, the $2 that people donate at the cash register. All of those donations really does reveal the impact that every dollar makes. It’s just incredible.”

The in-person events that the Foundation organized and relied upon for fundraising have been absent for the past two years. But when circumstances allow, the Foundation is planning a celebration event to thank everyone who has contributed. “We have come so far, and it’s really important to thank our community for getting us where we are. We are in a very positive place and we are only a few years away from seeing our hospital get built. We will soon be able to tell you what is coming in Stage Four, how much has been raised and how much is left,” says Coull. “I want to make sure everyone knows how grateful we are. I’m just so grateful to our community for continuing to go through this journey with us and excited to share the news in a few weeks so that we can keep moving ahead.”