At its next meeting, Dufferin County Council is expected to entertain a motion calling for Headwaters Health Care Centre to transfer ownership of the former Shelburne District Hospital to the county, or for the County to commence negotiations for such a transfer.

“We would be doing Headwaters a favour by taking it over,” said Shelburne Mayor Ed Crewson.

The expected county motion came about in a discussion between Mayor Crewson and county Warden Allen Taylor following the Local Health Integration Network’s (LHIN) public presentation Monday of a proposal for a Health and Care Centre (HCC) to be located at the Mel Lloyd Centre rather than in the nowempty hospital.

The gist of the presentation was that the HCC could be created in October but the former hospital would not be suitable without an expenditure of $1 million plus renovation costs of anywhere from $170 to $250 a square foot;

250 a square foot; that the building could not be made ready in time for an October launch, and that it would be preferable to have the HCC under the same roof as the medical clinic.

Perhaps the good news Monday was that the LHIN would provide $500,000 “seed money” for the start of the HCC.

Details of the LHIN plan were presented to the task force as what appeared to be a fait accompli, and the gathering appeared to be constrained to agree with it if it wanted to see an early start to the HCC.

Facilitator Barbara Pitts of Price Waterhouse Coopers said Shelburne still needs three additional physicians. She said combining all services under one roof would make Shelburne more attractive to prospective doctors.

Mayor Crewson, Shelburne’s political representative on the task force, was taken by surprise by the presumption

that the Mel Lloyd Centre – which occupies about half of the original Dufferin Oaks – would have sufficient space available for the HCC and, as well, that the County had not been apprised of LHIN’s plan.

“I don’t know how you can approve a location when there has been no feasibility study, don’t know (available floor space and parking limitations). I don’t understand the (Mel Lloyd plan) when up to two months ago 20 people called (the hospital) home. When did the place go unlivable,” he said.

ELGV Mayor John Oosterhof, who served in 2007 as Dufferin warden on a Brampton task force into the future of Peel Memorial Hospital, suggested the LHIN plan would create the same problems as those of Brampton.

“If we go down this road, we’re going to declare the Shelburne hospital is no Shelburne hospital is no longer used for medical purposes (but) if we look at staying it would purposes (but) if we look at staying it would be grandfathered (without spending the estimated $1- million plus). One of the reasons I say this, I was on the Brampton committee,” he said.

HHCC Administrator Cholly Boland responded that the overriding factor is that the primary service (the medical clinic) is at the Centre. “It’s much easier to attract physicians,” he said.

Margot Hornseth, who remains a member of the task force after having been succeeded by Louise Kindree of

Caledon as HHCC Board chair, suggested there could be further investigations of the Shelburne hospital pending the start of the HCC. But LHIN vice-chair Terry Miller said, “we want to start in October.”

The timeline now is to hold a public meeting Sept. 14, followed by a task force recommendation to the LHIN on Sept. 22. Ms. Hornseth wondered what the point of the Sept. 14 meeting would be.

A hospital building condition assessment had apparently been completed by VFA Canada Corp. in October 2009 “to identify potential options” for its future use. John Steven, a senior partner with Stantec Architecture of Toronto, said he agreed with the VFA study.

But no details were forthcoming except for the general examples of “fire separation repair, hazardous substance abatement, and repair leaks at roof penetrations.”

The square footage projections were Mr. Steven’s estimates, and would be in addition to the $1 million of the VPA analysis. According to his estimates, it would cost $170

square foot to renovate for commercial or medical offices, $220 for such as primary care clinics or residential care, and $250 a square foot for procedure rooms and dialysis.

The elevator, he said, is not of contemporary design as it is not large enough to accommodate beds. Washrooms are not large enough to make them totally barrier-free. He said the ceilings are too low, and supporting walls make it difficult to expand office spaces on the ground floor. Mayor Crewson said, however, the ceilings are no higher at the Mel Lloyd Centre.

The meeting was not told what plans, if any, either LHIN or Headwaters might have for the old hospital.

The hospital was built in the early 1960s at a total construction cost of $309,000, according to a history available at the public library. Of that, Dufferin County granted $100,000, the provincial government $85,000, federal government $97,000, the Town of Shelburne $5,000 and surrounding townships $8,000.

The Town also donated what had been known as Berwick Park as the hospital site.

It remained as a fullservice hospital until the closing of its Emergency department and its amalgamation with Dufferin Area Hospital to form HHCC, at which time it became a chronic care facility with some diagnostic services on the ground floor.