ABOYNE – After more than a decade the New Groves Memorial Community Hospital in Aboyne is fully operational.
What began as an idea for an expansion to the old Groves site on Union Street in Fergus several years ago transformed into the ambitious goal of building a brand new hospital that took over a decade and over $20 million in local fundraising to achieve.
In total the provincial government gave about $144 million for the construction of the new facility, while the Groves Hospital Foundation raised $27 million through fundraising.
While the province paid for the majority of the building, the foundation’s fundraising paid for 10 per cent of the building and everything in the new hospital including things like defibrillators, x-ray machines and an echocardiogram as well as things like chairs and IV poles.
“We’re really excited to have the community so involved in helping us achieve the goals and everything to be able to buy all of the equipment and everything we needed,” said patient care manager Heather Reid.
The successful fundraising campaign was part of the reason the new Groves site is able to keep parking free.
“I don’t know of any other new facility this size that has been able to do that,” hospital president and CEO Stephen Street said. “And we’re going to strive to continue that.”
However, the Ministry of Health expects Ontario hospitals to generate operational revenue through paid parking so Street said the hospital will try to balance its operational budget through efficiencies and the elimination or reduction of waste in processes to keep parking free.
“There’s no guarantee we’ll be able to continue that forever as the pressure on our health system increases but for as long as we can our goal is to do that,” he said.
The new hospital at 131 Frederick Campbell St. in Aboyne officially opened at 6am on Aug. 9 and inpatients were moved from the old site before noon.
Located on the Wellington Place campus the new hospital is situated close to the Wellington County Museum and Archives as well as the Wellington Terrace Long-Term Care Home.
Another new feature – the onsite cafe.
Chef Paul Torrance uses local food to create a menu that doesn’t make visitors feel that they’re eating in a hospital, Street said.
“Last week I had a quinoa mango salad,” he said. “I felt like I was eating at the Breadalbane or the Elora Mill.
“It was quite a nice experience.”
The new hospital is now fully operational.
