AGH–FAIRVIEW MANOR NEWS RELEASE
Almonte General Hospital - 75 Spring Street – Almonte, ON K0A 1A0 – 613-256-2500
Fairview Manor – 95 Spring Street – Almonte, ON K0A 1A0 – 613-256-3113
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 20, 2005
AGH/FVM REDEVELOPMENT RECEIVES APPROVAL TO GO TO TENDER
The Almonte General Hospital (AGH)/Fairview Manor (FVM) Redevelopment Project has received approval to go to tender, clearing the way for construction to begin this summer.
“We were advised on May 19 by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care that we can proceed to tender for the construction of a new 112-bed long-term care facility and for the expansion and renovation of the Hospital,” said AGH/FVM Executive Director Ray Timmons. “The wait is finally over – we can now get underway.”
Timmons said the preparation of the tender documentswill be completed the week of May 23, adding that the tendering process should take about four weeks. Upon the receipt and evaluation of the tender estimates, which Timmons estimates will take approximately one week, a recommendation from the AGH/FVM Board of Directors regarding the selection of a general contractor will be submitted to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care for its approval to proceed to construction. “If all goes well we would hope to proceed to construction in the latter part of August,” Timmons said.
The Redevelopment Project will see a new 112-bed long-term care facility built on land adjacent to the Hospital. The Project also includes the expansion of AGH’s emergency and ambulatory care departments, renovations to its in-patient care department and new equipment for the X-ray and medical-surgical departments. The Hospital, new long-term care facility and existing Fairview Manor will be connected by a covered link, in order to facilitate ease of movement by patients, residents, visitors, volunteers and staff. The new long-term care facility and AGH will share administrative and support services and the existing Manor will be used for other purposes.
Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care George Smitherman announced funding of $5.4 million for the Hospital portion of the project on April 1, 2005. Prior to that, the Redevelopment Project had been on hold for several months, while the province reviewed capital funding requests.
Before the April announcement, the Ministry had already committed $8.4 million toward the cost of the new long-term care facility. The County of Lanark will contribute $6 million to the construction of the new long-term care facility. The balance of funding for the project will come from additional AGH resources and local fundraising. The local fundraising target is $3 million.
The AGH/FVM Foundation will officially launch the Quality Care for Life Fundraising Campaign on Friday, June 10, 2005 at the Hospital. Further details about this event, which will be held between noon and 2 p.m., will be available soon.
“Now that we have approval to go to tender, our fundraising efforts must move into high gear,” Timmons said. “The community has been extremely supportive during the planning stages, and we will continue to rely on that support as we begin construction of this exciting project, which will create a leading-edge integrated health-care facility providing acute care, complex continuing care, long-term care and other services to our community at one location.”
The Almonte General Hospital is a 52-bed acute/chronic care hospital serving Mississippi Mills, Arnprior, Carleton Place, the City of Ottawa and surrounding townships. Fairview Manor is a 100-bed long-term care facility serving North Lanark County. AGH also operates the Lanark County Ambulance Service.
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For further information, contact:
Ray Timmons
Executive Director, Almonte General Hospital and Fairview Manor
613-256-2514, ext. 2220