Last year, GMCH received approval from the Ontario Ministry of Health (MOH) to demolish the old hospital building at 235 Union Street in Fergus.��

Over the past several months, decommissioning work has occurred, including abatement and removal of interior walls and electrical and mechanical elements.��

“The final phase of the demolition work should take a couple of months,” stated GMCH senior project manager Joe Grasso in a May 6 press release.��

“This will include dismantling both by hand and using mechanical excavators.”

Grasso said demolition will begin outside the building footprint and will work inward.��

All efforts will be made to reduce the noise and dust and work will occur within the allowable time defined by the 91���Ѽ’s bylaws.��

Officials say signs and fencing will be displayed to make all pedestrians aware of the dangers.��

“The demolition will not impact the trees located on the old property,” Grasso added.

Hospital president and CEO Angela Stanley said discussions about the future of the property are still in progress.

“At this stage, it is anticipated that the property will be sold once the former hospital building is removed,” she said.

The purchaser would then initiate the planning approval process.��

“However, the decision on the property’s sale is still under discussion and is subject to the Ministry of Health’s approval,” said Stanley.

Commemorative activities will take place after the demolition to mark the building site, and information will be shared with the community as it becomes available.

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So there’s less than a year for the hospital board to figure out what to do with the old hospital and parking lot.

And members are leaning toward demolishing the old hospital and building something new in its place.

The site is currently being used as a COVID-19 assessment centre, but funding for that stops at the end of June, Stanley told Centre Wellington 91���Ѽ at its committee of the whole meeting on June 20.

It was also used as a filming location and for OPP training the past couple of years.

It closed as a hospital on Aug. 9, 2020 when the new hospital in Aboyne opened.

“We will work with the Ministry of Health on future use,” Stanley said.

But she estimates it will cost $42 million to renovate the space, “and that’s too costly for us to undertake.”

She said officials would like to put out a request for information to see if there’s a developer interested in making something of it.

Councillor Bob Foster asked if it could be used for elder care in some capacity.

Stanley said it’s unlikely the Ministry of Long-Term Care would build another long-term care facility there, “but there could be options for a retirement home,” she said.

Councillor Ian MacRae wondered if it could be used for co-operative housing or affordable housing.

“Every option is on the table,” Stanley said.

She noted with COVID numbers down, emergency visits are increasing for other ailments and inpatient capacity is at 100% occupancy. Patient acuity has increased as well.

“It’s all putting pressure on the system,” she said.

Stanley said the next hurdle is human resources. There are three vacancies for RNs and several part-time vacancies as well as a need for more doctors and hospitalists.

As this is a widespread issues, the hospital is starting an advertising campaign pitching Groves as “deliberately different.”

“We want to celebrate what makes us different,” she said, hoping it will capture the interest of doctors, nurses and other health professionals to settle here.

She said Groves is working collaboratively with Grand River, Guelph General and Cambridge Memorial hospitals as those bigger hospitals work to get surgeries back on track.

Mayor Kelly Linton said the hospital will present regular updates to 91���Ѽ throughout the year.

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The hospital corporation and the Township of Centre Wellington have signed a memorandum of understanding to divide the former hospital lands.

According to the agreement, the hospital corporation will retain the former hospital building and parking lot, while the 91���Ѽ will keep the old medical building and the Guelph-Wellington Paramedic Service building, both located on Queen Street across the road from the rear of the old hospital.

Groves president and CEO Stephen Street said the pandemic has put a wrench in the works.

“We put in a number of proposals to the Ministry (of Health) pre-COVID for services we could offer, and the system needs, but that has changed,” he said in an interview on June 29.

“We don’t have a line of sight post-COVID.”

Right now, the former hospital is being used as a COVID-19 assessment site and the ministry is continuing to fund maintenance and basic operations.

The old Groves hospital site will remain with the Groves hospital corporation while Centre Wellington Township will take over the medical office across the road. The hospital and 91���Ѽ signed a memorandum of agreement to transfer ownership of the lands. Photo by Olivia Rumbell

Street wasn’t certain of that amount but estimated it costs less than $1 million a year to keep the lights on, elevators running and medical equipment in good repair.

“Once COVID drops, the health system will need to adjust,” he said.

“The new Groves will be the primary home for acute services; the old Groves will be used for non-acute services.”

Street noted the three hospitals in Wellington County recently joined the Guelph Wellington Ontario Health Team and there are opportunities to partner with other agencies to deliver a continuum of services at the site.

“We are in active discussion with the ministry,” Street said.

The former hospital site, now referred to by hospital officials as “Legacy Groves,” has a long history.

Dr. Abraham Groves gifted the hospital and lands to the village of Fergus in 1932. The Groves Act sets out that the land will be held by the 91���Ѽ in trust for the hospital corporation for as long as the hospital corporation continues to operate as a public hospital.

Hospital and 91���Ѽ officials have been in discussion for several years on how to disperse the lands once the hospital was relocated.

“All parties involved in these discussions acknowledge the huge benefits Dr. Groves has provided to the community with his land donation for medical purposes,” Groves hospital board chair Gilles Madore stated in a press release.

“We will continue to work with the ministry to transition the corporation out of the Groves Hospital Act and continue to explore potential future uses of the lands to deliver medical services and to continue to benefit the Groves Hospital corporation.”

The 91���Ѽ will also retain the paramedics/ambulance station across the road on Queen Street. Photo by Olivia Rumbell

Centre Wellington CAO Andy Goldie said in a phone interview the 91���Ѽ has a long-term lease with Guelph-Wellington Paramedic Services for the ambulance station and that will remain.

As for the medical office, Goldie said some staff will likely be temporarily located there until a new operations centre is constructed and the remainder of the office space could be leased.

“We will have to determine how much space we will need and how much we can lease,” he said.

At the Centre Wellington meeting on June 28, 91���Ѽ 91���Ѽ approved the agreement in a 5-2 vote, with 91���Ѽlors Bob Foster and Stephan Kitras opposed.

“Dr. Groves gave the land to the town to be used for a hospital. I am not in favour of transferring this gifted property,” Foster said.

“The hospital says it will use it for medical uses in the future, but nothing ensures that will happen. There should be a restrictive covenant.”

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