Riverside still waiting

While Phase IV renovations have yet to begin at La Verendrye hospital here, Wayne Woods, CEO of Riverside Health Care Facilities, Inc., is keeping his fingers crossed the shovel will be in the ground by the end of the summer.
“There’s been nothing from the Ministry of Health yet,” he remarked. “I think they’ve been a little preoccupied with SARS, which is easy to understand.
“But everything we’ve submitted is fine. All our documentation is fine-tuned by now—we’re just waiting for the minister’s signature,” added Woods.
He noted, however, that the hospital and its related offices have been busy places in anticipation of the $10-million project. For instance, the hospital currently is getting a new roof and having its elevators upgraded.
And work continues at the St. Mary’s parish rectory, which has been purchased by Riverside to be turned into additional space for health care services.
The rectory—first built in 1960—will house Riverside Community Counselling and Valley Diabetes Education Centre, which currently are located to the southeast and east of the hospital, respectively.
Those buildings, in turn, will be demolished once the hospital renovations begin.
  Work on the rectory began in April, and it is expected to be ready before the end of the month.
 The renovated rectory will be used for office space and client treatment, and entails adding fire doors, fire exits, a handicap-accessible washroom, and handicap access, plus cosmetic changes like flooring and new paint on the ceiling and walls.
St. Mary’s parish will continue to occupy four offices and a reception area located on the upper floor of the north side of the building.
It originally was thought the Phase IV renovations could get underway by last December, but hospital administration and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care have had to meet numerous times to work out the details of this extensive project.
 The extensive job—initially estimated at $5.5 million and then $8 million, before the ministry’s recommendations—will include improvements or total overhauls to the X-ray department, emergency room, operating rooms, and lab.
 The expansion also would include re-locating the dialysis unit, and possibly a computerized tomography (CT) imaging unit, which has the ability to image a combination of soft tissue, bone, and blood vessels.
The extensive overhaul—which could take 18 months to two years to complete—will be funded by both the provincial government and Riverside Foundation for Health Care’s “Care Close to Home” campaign.
 The work, which will be done in phases, is not expected to disrupt medical care to patients.
(Fort Frances Times)