Stage 2 planning continues for a new acute care hospital in Windsor-Essex and it appears gathering feedback from the community is going to be the main focus in the coming months.
Essex County Council was given the latest update Wednesday night from the hospital's project management team which plans to begin town hall meetings next month.
Allison Johnson is a member of the team and says several groups are already working on their submissions.
"We have about 40 user groups who are representing different hospital programs and services within the hospital who are working on their piece of the plan and what the new hospital will look like. In each of those clinical areas, we do have a patient representative to talk about what they think and make sure that the patient lens is always at the table."
She says residents are going to have a chance to shape what the hospital is going to look like.
"For example, if it's the emergency user group, they're going to want to know from the community what would you like to see in terms of design features based on the experiences that you've had? Or have you been to any other hospital emergencies that had a really good design and features that we might want to consider in this project?"
Johnson says town halls will begin March 21.
"There will be 11 town halls representing different services and programs in the hospital. We'll hear from the leadership from the tables who are participating in the planning, and then again, inviting the community to ask questions and provide feedback."
Johnson adds more information about the upcoming town halls will be released soon and an online feedback portal will be rolled out in March as well.
Stage 2 planning is expected to take roughly 16 months with several other stages to follow before construction begins in the summer of 2026.
If all goes to plan, the new mega hospital is slated to open in July 2030.