Hospital Sites Divestment Committee dusted off

North Bay General Hospital
News Release

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A committee, designed to develop recommendations regarding the disposition of the current North Bay General Hospital properties, has been resurrected. The Sites Divestment Committee, which reports to the Board’s Resource Allocation and Utilization Committee, was struck in 2003 but was put on hold during the negotiations with government for the approval and financing of the new hospital.

Chairman of the NBGH Board, Alain Perron is pleased that this committee is back in action. “We need to review some of the preliminary work that was done in 2003 regarding property assessment and valuation and begin the work that needs to be done to recommend disposition of these properties,” stated Perron. “We are at our current sites for three more years and will be working towards a solution that is a win/win outcome for the hospital and for the community,” he added.

The North Bay General Hospital owns all buildings on both the Scollard and McLaren sites along with a house on McLaren Street. If any profits are achieved from the disposition of these properties funds will go towards the local share financing for the new hospital.
Sites Divestment Committee Chairman Gary Jodouin noted the importance of keeping everyone informed of progress of this committee. “We want to ensure we are keeping the community informed as we proceed with our task and will be connecting with our neighbours and the community at large as we get closer to making recommendations,” stated Jodouin.

Along with four NBGH Board members and support staff from the hospital, the Sites Divestment Committee also has community representation.

The new North Bay Regional Health Centre is currently under construction with a completion date scheduled for the summer of 2010. It is expected that commissioning the building (making it ready for occupancy) will take a few months and that patient care activities will be moved to the new hospital in the Fall of 2010.

Watch for future updates on the work of the Sites Divestment Committee. For further information contact the hospital’s Public Relations Department at 495-8127.

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