Officials from the Township of Guelph-Eramosa and the East Wellington Family Health Team are very pleased with an agreement signed this week for a new medical centre in Rockwood.
The township has entered into a new 25-year lease agreement with Coldpoint Holdings Limited for the construction of a new 12,035 square foot building to replace the current building at the corner of Alma Street (Highway 7) and Inkerman Street.
“This public-private partnership is the culmination of an effort [by the township, the EWFHT, and Coldpoint Holdings] to bring a medical centre to Rockwood,” said Guelph-Eramosa Mayor Chris White.
“The new facility will provide families better access to medical services and help attract new doctors to the community.”
Under the agreement, Coldpoint will build the $1.3-million centre and lease the township land for $1 annually over the next 25 years, during which time reserves for maintenance will be established to ensure the building remains in good condition.
At the end of the 25 years, the entire building will become the property of the township.
“This is a great deal,” councillor Doug Breen said on Monday.
Vice president Susan Frasson said Coldpoint Holdings hopes to begin construction in the spring and complete the building in late fall of 2009.
“By this time next year we hope to have a new medical centre there,” Frasson said.
However, she noted the timing of the construction depends largely on the township’s demolishing of the old building, grading the property, completing all the necessary environmental procedures, and receiving approval from the government.
Frasson said the deal represents her company’s willingness to do what’s best for the community.
“We have a great deal of affection for this community and want to see it benefit from this agreement,” she told the Advertiser.
But, she added, most of the credit for the new building should go to White.
“He was given an opportunity to make it happen and he did,” she said. “He’s really been amazing. The community’s really fortunate to have a mayor like him.”
The EWFHT will lease approximately 6,500 square feet of the facility, with the remainder to be leased by Coldpoint to other medical-related businesses or organizations.
The township and the family health team hope to recruit three new doctors to the facility.
“[Dr. Johanna Hosdil] has earned the right to retire,” said Erik Stern, president of the EWFHT board. He noted that as the only remaining doctor in Rockwood, Hosdil sees about three times more patients than most family physicians.
But Stern stressed the the new agreement means much more than just doctors.
“It a bid deal,” he said. “It’s part of our very ambitious dream of bringing improved local health care to Erin and Rockwood.”
He said the new building means more patients, which qualifies the family health team for more nurses, a full-time dietician, a mental health worker, social worker, health promoter, and even a part-time foot doctor.
The next step for the family health team, Stern said, is to establish a community fundraising committee to pay for the lease holds, which will run about $60 per square foot. And the team must show the floor plans to the Ministry of Health.
Stern does not anticipate major problems with the ministry and looks forward to moving into the new Rockwood building.
“It’s an exciting time,” he said. “This council has been very helpful in moving this dream along.”
