Wellington North council is deferring any further discussion on a $1-million request for funding from Louise Marshall Hospital (LMH).
Council will turn the request over to its finance committee for further consideration. Council will also defer any decision until Wellington County council decides how it will handle a $9-million funding request from LMH, Groves Memorial Community Hospital in Fergus, and Palmerston District Hospital.
“We request county council continue past practice to provide grants to hospitals (and) defer the Louise Marshall Hospital request pending the outcome of the county discussion,” Lennox said in a motion adopted by council.
The LMH request was pitched to council in late March. Lennox said after the presentation was made he asked CAO Mike Givens to request more information from hospital officials about what the donation would be used for.
The request is part of a $5-million community effort to raise money to upgrade LMH’s emergency department and ambulatory care facilities.
“I haven’t seen any of that information yet and I’m concerned we haven’t seen any of the information before making a decision,” Lennox said. “Spending $1 million certainly warrants some further discussion.”
Councillor Dan Yake suggested the finance committee and staff prepare a report on “options available to Wellington North.”
The funding request was not part of the township’s 2014 budget, which was to be approved by council at its May 12 meeting, but was unavailable because paperwork had not been completed.
“I think that report should be drafted with council and staff together for discussion purposes only,” said Yake, who is council’s representative on the hospital board.
County council is expected to discuss its $9-million funding request next month.
