Just over $1.3 million dollars from the Ontario government will go toward some much-needed upgrades at Bluewater Health's CEE hospital in Petrolia.
The government announced the funding Tuesday as part of an overall $182.6 million investment across the province.
Bluewater Health CEO Mike Lapaine said it's annual money, but this year's share was more than they anticipated.
"Petrolia is in the midst of doing some serious upgrades to their infrastructure and this funding will help support that," said Lapaine. "There are huge electrical infrastructure issues that are being upgraded, there are elevator upgrades, as well as some work on the sanitary sewers. It's really not anything patients will see but it'll make a huge difference for the viability of the hospital heading into the future."
Lapaine said plans are in the works to renovate the aging emergency department in Petrolia.
"Stage two of the application is with the government right now, so we're just waiting for a response for that. In fairness, stage one is the most difficult to get approvals for and the subsequent stages tend to move a bit more quickly. It is Christmas time though, so I don't know if we'll be hearing anything until the new year. That's around the emergency department upgrades. The emergency department there is in dire need of upgrading. It's a multi-stage redevelopment out there but the very first stage is definitely dealing with the emergency department. That's what most people experience at the CEE site."
Bluewater Health was also in the process of renovating 10 patient care rooms at CEE with private bathrooms to meet patient care and accessibility needs.
Renovations through a 25-year CEE Hospital Redevelopment Plan were made possible after Bluewater Health set aside $5.8 million for infrastructural upgrades and the Ministry of Health invested $7.5 million in 2017.
The hospital was originally constructed in 1911.
