Windsor's mayor is calling it a step in the right direction.
Drew Dilkens is referring to Friday’s announcement by Health Minister Eric Hoskins about a new acute care hospital for the city that will serve 400,000 people in Essex County.
Dilkens tells CTV News it's not a matter of if the project will happen but rather when.
Despite opposition, the hospital would be located at County Road 42 and the 9th concession, near the airport.
Windsor Regional CEO David Musyj says an urgent care department will remain in the city’s core, but a decision has not been made about where it will be located.
That will be part of the design and planning process, stages two and three of the project. That is expected to take three years, and cost between $20 and $30-million.
The overall price-tag of the region's new acute care hospital is expected to be around $2-billion.
Mayor Dilkens says time was of the essence, and had Windsor not moved quickly on the project, the money would have went somewhere else in Ontario.
Dilkens also credits the city’s move to use revenue from Samsung solar panels at the airport to help fund the hospital project.
Infrastructure Ontario has been appointed to lead the procurement process for construction of the new hospital. A Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is scheduled to be issued in 2021, but that is subject to change.
On Monday, the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care also announced $400,000 for the Hospice of Windsor and Essex County.
The money is expected to go towards two new beds and renovations at the facility. Once construction is complete, the province will provide $210,000 in annual operating funding.
