Dialysis Unit

“The work is about to begin again.”
It’s a statement Wayne Woods, CEO of Riverside Health Care Facilities, is sticking by as plans for the new hemodialysis unit at La Verendrye hospital here have been approved.
But after nearly a six-week delay in work, Woods admitted there’s a few questions to answer.
“I think people are missing that there’s a process we have to follow,” he said last week. “The process is frustrating for me but I have two other employers to work with [the Ministry of Health and Thunder Bay Regional Hospital–McKellar site].
“When we come up with drawings, the ministry has to approve them, and if there’s any problem, we have to work on them and submit it for approval again,” he explained.
“[But] the message is the program is solid. We are progressing. Rest assured, we’re trying to get this done as soon as possible,” Woods pledged. “Hopefully, by late June, we’ll be ready to go.”
He added tenders for electrical work are out now, and Riverside is trying to “make up for lost time.”
But at least one person who remains critical of the delay is Barwick resident Debbra Westover-Morrisseau, who voiced her opinion of the situation in a letter to the editor in last week’s Times.
“Right now, I’d be happy to hear for sure that it’s up and running,” she said Monday.
Westover-Morrisseau noted she’s heard rumours the government end of the funding for the unit could fall through if Riverside doesn’t hurry up. “If that’s the case, they may have enough to do the construction but not enough to man the unit,” she warned.
But Woods replied the $800,000 in funding granted by the province last fall is secure. “The money is in an account and we can access it at any time,” he remarked.
Still, Westover-Morrisseau, who in her letter pleaded the case of Emo resident Metta Visser as just one of many district residents who