NHH offers last call for planning input

image from nnh.ca

By Cecilia Nasmith

Northumberland Hills Hospital is completing community-outreach-and-engagement activities for the NHH Master Plan – Growing Care for the Future, and residents who have not already provided feedback can still fill in a short survey on the hospital website before it closes at noon on Monday, May 11.

This process began in November, Reflecting the diversity of the growing community, feedback has been invited through a mix of in-person and virtual opportunities extended to both to groups – large and small – and individuals. Throughout it all, the aim has been to provide opportunities for residents to ask questions and share input on current hospital services as well as future needs.

NHH President and Chief Executive Officer Susan Walsh declared it a critical task, planning for future needs, and extended thanks to the Steering Committee and its many community organizations, partners and individuals who have offered their unique perspectives.

“From our area health and social-care partners, to students, municipal, provincial and Indigenous leaders, community organizations and local businesses, we are receiving a broad mix of thoughtful and very valuable input that is being reviewed and used to help inform a plan for the future growth of Northumberland Hills Hospital,” Walsh said in the announcement.

“We welcome all this input, and encourage anyone who has not had an opportunity to please complete the survey before May 11 or reach out to us directly for a conversation.”

The information gathered will be analyzed, reviewed and reported as part of the detailed formal submission going forward this summer to the Ministry of Health and Ontario Health regarding the proposed long-term program and facility requirements of the NHH. Further engagement is anticipated at the functional programming stage in the future – constructing new health-care spaces is a complex process with multiple stages of planning and approvals that can take years to complete.

The plans and ideas generated through the community-engagement portion of the Master Planning process are conceptual, and will evolve with the support of the government. Updates will be shared as this work moves forward.