NWHC gets $1.5 million provincial grant for Mount Forest, Palmerston hospitals

North Wellington Health Care (NWHC) has received $1.5 million from the province for upgrades to Louise Marshall Hospital (LMH) here and the Palmerston District Hospital (PDH).

CEO Jerome Quenneville said plans are in the works to upgrade the emergency room at LMH and space for specialists visiting the hospital and an add on at PDH for medical students.

He did not release information about how much the two hospital projects, slated to go to tender in 2014-15, will cost.

NWHC has also put a request to Wellington County for a  $1.2 million donation toward the upgrades. The county has established a committee to look into county contributions to hospitals.

“The government pays about 90 per cent of the building and we have to come up with 10%,” the CEO said.

The money will be used for planning and design, similar to a recent $5.5 million contribution from the province for the planned new Fergus hospital.