New Prince Edward County hospital approved for next stage of planning process

An important hurdle was cleared Tuesday to improve healthcare in the Quinte region, as approval was given to move into stage four of planning for the PEC hospital project.

The province of Ontario is giving Quinte Health Care (QHC) the green light to move into the fourth stage of the planning process for redevelopment of Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital (PECMH).

“We’re going to build a beautiful new county hospital that’s going to be here to serve generations to come,” says QHC president and CEO Stacey Daub.

The pre-election announcement from the Ontario government means that detailed designs can now be prepared and documents can be finalized to get construction bids.

“Really exciting news. This has been years and years and years in the making to get to this point,” says Bay of Quinte MPP Todd Smith.

“To be moving on to stage four, which really gets down to the nuts and bolts, and no turning back from this point in time. We know we’re going to have a new hospital here in Prince Edward County in the very near future.”

The new hospital will have a 24-hour emergency department, 18 inpatient beds, a surgical suite and a dialysis unit among other specializations.

“It’s going to mean potentially, with a modern facility, that we’re able to attract new family physicians and new health care staff into the region to work in a brand new facility,” Smith says.

“It’s just going to be a much better environment and, of course, far more comfortable for those who need to stay at the hospital and visit the emergency room.”