District of Muskoka endorses hospital redevelopment project without funding commitment

The District of Muskoka is unanimous in its support for Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare's (MAHC) revamped hospital redevelopment plan, but who foots the bill remains in question.

On Monday, the District Council intended to vote on reconfirming its local share of the funding commitment of $77.3 million for the hospital redevelopment project.

The District's commitment was approved on Oct. 16, 2023, but since then, the proposal has drastically changed.

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Most notably when MAHC approved adding 10 new beds to the proposed Bracebridge site on Oct. 10, bringing the future hospital's capacity to 46 beds total.

"And if it hadn't been for an uprising by citizens, the doctors, the Chamber of Commerce, and a lot of other people, we'd be well down our way to a very inferior solution," noted Eric Daly, a member of the Save South Muskoka Hospital committee.

The MAHC board also heard those 10 new beds had not been costed out, and who would be paying for them is still unknown.

During Monday's District Council meeting, MAHC's board told council that once its stage 1.3 submission is made to the province, Ontario's Ministry of Health could drastically alter the plan, meaning financials are not yet set in stone.

"The desire of District Council was not to have a number in the motion today because we'll just have to end up changing it once the final is known," said District Chair Jeff Lehman.

The District decided to change its initial motion to take out references to funding and instead voted to endorse MAHC's stage 1.3 hospital redevelopment submission.

MAHC will submit its proposal to the province in mid-November.