New K-W hospital inching closer to reality

There is some movement when it comes to a third hospital in Waterloo Region.

The boards of Grand River Hospital and St. Mary’s General Hospital released a statement today confirming it had approved the site selection panel’s two recommended sites in April.

Back in December, the panel narrowed down a list of five potential sites to three.

Grand River Hospital president and CEO Ron Gagnon told CityNews 570 that the negotiations are in the early stages with the two landowners.

“We’re working as quickly as we can and there is a negotiation process to this. We’re optimistic we’ll be able to do that in the next couple of months,” he said.

But Gagnon stopped short of identifying where those potential sites are.

“At this point in time we’re not disclosing the sites because we want to respect the negotiating process and we want to respect not having land speculation starting all over the place as well,” Gagnon said.

Naturally, the price of the land was a factor in determining potential sites. The site selection panel also considered the size, a minimum of 50 acres (20.2 hectares) as well as population density in the area and ease of access to major roads, highways and transit. The site should also be able to accommodate a helipad.

Once the land purchase is completed the panel plans to provide further updates about the location and other information about the project.

Grand River Hospital and St. Mary’s General are partnering to bring the new facility to the region, at the same time they are in talks to become one hospital network.