The chair of a task force looking for a property big enough to accommodate a new hospital is a long-time Brantford resident who brings 35 years of health care experience to the role.
“After my wife (Carolyn) and I got married, I was working in the Hamilton area and she was working in Woodstock,” Don Shilton recalled. “Brantford was right in the centre for both of our careers.
“We moved here, raised our children here and continue to enjoy living here.”
Shilton, who retired as president of St. Mary’s Hospital in Kitchener in 2018, was recently named chair of the new hospital site identification task force. The creation of the task force was announced in August following a visit to Brantford General Hospital by Ontario health minister Sylvia Jones.
Jones announced funding to help support the Brant Community Healthcare System’s planning for a new hospital in the community. She also confirmed that the healthcare system has the province’s blessing to build a new hospital on a greenfield site.
Previously, the healthcare system had been told to redevelop the existing site on Terrace Hill Street and St. Paul Avenue.
The task force includes Coun. Amos Key Jr., of the Six Nations Elected Band Council, Brant County CAO Alison Newton, Jodi Rock, a Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation (MCFN) band member, and Nicole Wilmot, commissioner of community development at the City of Brantford.
“It is really helpful to have both Alison and Nicole in leadership roles to know where development is going to be in the future and where traffic corridors are going to be, all of those important factors the task force needs to take into consideration to determine where the best site will be,” Shilton said.
“Amos and Jodi have a history of representing Indigenous communities and are very accomplished people with a strong interest in health care.”
The new new hospital will require a property big enough to meet the needs of a growing community. Cost will also be a factor because the provincial government doesn’t provide funding to purchase land for new hospitals. It will also need to be accessible to those in the community it serves.
Shilton said he has heard concerns about the lack of available land big enough to accommodate a new hospital. But he’s not sure that’s the case.
“The proof will be in the pudding when we put out the call for land and see what parcels of land landowners are willing to submit,” Shilton said. “I’m optimistic there are people in the community who will work hard to come up with a really good solution.
“We’re all in this together, we’re all invested in having an ideal site for an ideal hospital.”
The task force is working independently of the healthcare system board and the healthcare system administration.
“We represent the community and we’re going to do it effectively and transparently,” Shilton said, adding that members of the task force will not be speaking directly to people about their efforts.
The estimated time line for a new hospital is about 10 years, so the healthcare system has some challenging years ahead, Shilton said.
“But the future looks very bright,” he said. “There are a lot of communities across Ontario that would love to be in Brantford’s position.”
Bonnie Camm, president and CEO of the Brant Community Healthcare System, said the shift in direction won’t have an impact on the timeline.
In a separate interview, Camm said planning for the new facility is being done parallel or at the same time as the work of the task force.
The goal is to have the site selection and planning completed by the time the provincial government prepares its budget in the fall of 2026.
Meanwhile, Camm said it has become clear that given the age and condition of the infrastructure, redevelopment or adding onto the existing facility is not feasible.
The possibility of redeveloping the brownfield site across the street from the hospital remains a possibility but is highly unlikely.
“That property is 8.5 acres making it fairly limiting as a site for a new hospital especially when you look at our growth projections,” Camm said. “We’re not looking at the next 20 years, we’re looking at the next 50 to 70 and beyond.
“Room to grow is essential and I would say that accommodating growth across the street would be very challenging.”
Read the article on The Brantford Expositor’s website.
Photo: Don Shilton, a long-time Brantford resident and a past president (retired) of St. Mary’s Hospital in Kitchener, is the chair of a task force charged with finding a site for a new hospital in the community.
Article by Vincent Ball at The Brantford Expositor
Photo by Brant Community Healthcare System