Ground has officially been broken on the new emergency department at Charlotte Eleanor Englehart Hospital (CEEH) in Petrolia.
Dozens of community leaders and members of the public gathered outside the hospital on Wednesday to celebrate the milestone.
"So many years of hard work, planning, bringing people together, hearing their ideas, seeing renderings come to life, and then actually putting a shovel in the ground just makes that milestone very tangible," said President and CEO of Bluewater Health Paula Reaume-Zimmer. "Rural healthcare is here to stay. It's an investment in generations to come, and in our facility."
The CEEH was originally designed for a population of under 10,000, but the hospital sees closer to 20,000 people yearly.
"This really allows us to create space that is able to respond to the demands that we're caring for today," said Reaume-Zimmer.
Construction will take between 36 and 42 months and will be carried out in several phases to allow the hospital and emergency department to remain open throughout the project. In September, Bluewater Health awarded a $14-million construction contract to K&L Construction Ltd. for the redevelopment.
"We've worked so hard for so long to finally get this to come to this point. But this hospital is so important to this community and surrounding area, and also for attracting industry and businesses," said Petrolia Mayor R. Brad Loosley. "I'm really proud of this hospital and the support from the community over the years."
The expansion project has been in the works for many years, with planning beginning in 2016.
"It's been over 10 years since we announced that we were going to move ahead with this. It's been a long haul, and I'll be happy when the 36 months are up, and we go and open it," said Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey.
The milestone project is a part of the Ontario Government's plan to improve healthcare in rural areas.
"We have 17 major multi-million-dollar hospital upgrades currently underway. Those are shovels in the ground where work is actually being done, and this great project here at Charlotte Eleanor Englehart Hospital is going to be another one of those great multi-million-dollar projects," said Anthony Leardi, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health and MPP for the riding of Essex.
The groundbreaking took place during National Rural Health Week, celebrating the community's commitment to strengthening rural healthcare.
