Curious how long it will take you to get to the new mega hospital to be built on County Rd 42?
A local software company is looking to eliminate the guess work with a newly launched website called MegaHospital Challenge.
Doug Sartori is with Border City Data and says the goal is to give residents drive times to existing hospitals versus to the proposed site of the mega hospital.
He says the website has been used more than 500 times since is its release on February 21 and emphasizes the app provides factual information to area residents.
"This is a debate with a lot of different facets and a lot going on in it but this one specific item, we thought there was a good way for us to quickly create an app that could help dispel some myths and help folks see what they really can expect from a new location in terms of access," says Sartori.
Sartori is encouraging county residents to use the website.
"I think it's really important when we have these discussions and there has been an awful lot of discussions online and in coffee shops around the county," says Sartori. "I think when we have these conversations it's great to be able to start from a common basis of facts."
Sartori says the website was developed using data sourced from TravelTime Platform — a third-party supplier of drive time estimates.
Windsor Regional Hospital CEO David Musyj released a statement regarding the app:
"The app unfortunately slants the results by assuming you are going to be attending the closest current hospital from where you live regardless of your medical issue. That is the major issue with our current acute healthcare configuration in Windsor-Essex. We do not have two general hospitals in Windsor. We have one hospital over two campuses. Many services are segregated to a specific campus. Cancer, Women's and Children’s, trauma, cardiac, stroke and on and on. As a result it makes your current trip from where you live artificially shorter. The new acute will house all services and be closer for residents of our region. You do not need an app for that."
--With files from Teresinha Medeiros and Zander Broeckel