The Planning Process
There are two parts to the initial planning process:
One steering committee is overseeing both processes. It is headed by the CEO of Windsor Regional Hospital, David Musyj. Thom Hunt, Windsor's City Planner, also sits on the committee. Although he has urban planning expertise, his vote is just one of many around the table. The final decisions will be taken by the provincial Minister of Health, based on the recommendations of the steering committee.
Windsor Regional Hospital has a blog which states that the hospital is "required" to be built on 50 to 60 acres. In particular:
- The first is determining how the hospital will be run, for example, bed and OR requirements, and which surgical specialties will be represented at the hospital. Few would disagree that hospital administration are the best experts to oversee this process, though it is unclear to what extent public consultations have been employed.
- The second part entails locating the best site for the new megahospital. Since the location will affect the entire community, we believe a broad range of expertise is required to determine the best location. We believe hospital administrators are probably not the best experts to oversee this part of the process.
One steering committee is overseeing both processes. It is headed by the CEO of Windsor Regional Hospital, David Musyj. Thom Hunt, Windsor's City Planner, also sits on the committee. Although he has urban planning expertise, his vote is just one of many around the table. The final decisions will be taken by the provincial Minister of Health, based on the recommendations of the steering committee.
Windsor Regional Hospital has a blog which states that the hospital is "required" to be built on 50 to 60 acres. In particular:
Given the requirement for a “Greenfield” site, it is mostly likely that a new facility would be constructed on land that allows for future expansion and therefore not on the “land-locked” sites that exist currently.
While we agree wholeheartedly about the importance of anticipating future expansion needs, we question the need for a greenfield site, and why such a large parcel of land is required. There are many examples of major hospitals being built on urban or suburban sites, including Canada's largest hospital, built on 43 acres, and Hamilton Health Sciences, only a stone's throw from downtown, which is being completely rebuilt on the same site on which it currently stands.
We are also concerned that a large part of the rationale for building on such a large site is motivated by the idea of ensuring there will always be enough parking at the new hospital. We know that increasing numbers of young people are drawn to communities where they can get by without needing a motor vehicle at all. Could a hospital at some distance from the city, with lots of parking, be a detractor for this very reason?
We also question why this is stated as a given, before the community has been engaged in public consultations, and without the input of our community planning experts. Ontario's Land Use Policy has very specific guidelines to help planners and communities ensure efficient and environmentally sustainable land use development. It is perplexing that a greenfield site is so openly favoured, without reference to a transparent process explaining why redevelopment of one of the many existing sites in and around Windsor cannot be a feasible option.
We are also concerned that a large part of the rationale for building on such a large site is motivated by the idea of ensuring there will always be enough parking at the new hospital. We know that increasing numbers of young people are drawn to communities where they can get by without needing a motor vehicle at all. Could a hospital at some distance from the city, with lots of parking, be a detractor for this very reason?
We also question why this is stated as a given, before the community has been engaged in public consultations, and without the input of our community planning experts. Ontario's Land Use Policy has very specific guidelines to help planners and communities ensure efficient and environmentally sustainable land use development. It is perplexing that a greenfield site is so openly favoured, without reference to a transparent process explaining why redevelopment of one of the many existing sites in and around Windsor cannot be a feasible option.