The plan for a new hospital in Windsor is now a sure bet, but those opposed to the location aren't resigning themselves to accepting the planned build site.
Philippa Von Ziegenweidt is the spokesperson for the group Citizens for an Accountable Mega-Hospital Planning Process — also known as CAMPP.
She says the project's inclusion on Infrastructure Ontario's "To Do List" doesn't necessarily mean it has to be built at the proposed County Rd. 42 and 9th Concession location.
"I think it's jumping the gun to assume that that location is necessarily the one that we're going to see the new hospital on," says Von Ziegenweidt.
Infrastructure Ontario has set a date of 2021 to issue a Request For Qualifications to narrow the field of contractors available for the project estimated to cost more than a billion dollars.
Von Ziegenweidt calls the Infrastructure Ontario commitment good news, but says CAMPP will continue to push to see a different location.
"Absolutely, and don't get me wrong — I'm very positive about the government's commitment to the new infrastructure spending," says Von Ziegenweidt. "I think everybody agrees that it's much needed, it just shouldn't be in the form of the proposal as it's being proposed."
Despite Infrastructure Ontario looking to pin down contractors for the project, Von Ziegenweidt doesn't think it's a sure bet the hospital will be built at the currently proposed locatoin.
She says it's a bad spot that will have a lot of people travelling further to the future hospital.
"The current location means a long trip to the hospital for many in the city," says Von Ziegenweidt. "Not necessarily just the downtown area, but from Wards 2, 3, 4 and 5 — that's about 80,000 people to access that location they have to drive around the airport and that's a big, big deal."
CAMPP wants to see a hospital in WIndsor closer to the city core and Von Ziegenweidt suggests a secon satellite location in Essex County would be best.