Total Community Effort Recognized By Health Minister Deb Matthews

Health Minister Deb Matthews, in making her remarks to large gathering at Georgetown Hospital on August 31st,noted that although $2.6 million for Georgetown Hospital may sound like "a rounding error" in a budget the size of the Ministry of Health, the fact is that there are dozens of hospitals across the province that are asking for that same money. So why were we successful in getting the money when Halton Health Care has already received its fair share of the pie?

The Minister said that the "all out" community effort played a pivitol role in our success. In particular she noted Mayor Bonnette had been tenacious in pursuing the funding and that our Council's unanimous support via a special levy was very important in illustrating that we were all committed to the project and recognized it as a top priority for our community.

The Minister was also gracious in her remarks about the effort our MPP Ted Arnott had made to put this issue in front of the Ministry. Likewise she noted that our Liberal  Candidate, Councillor Moya Johnson had also spoken passionately to her about the importance of this project.

The people in the picture above all played key roles in making this funding a reality. From left to right John Fleming, Chair of the Board of Halton Healthcare, John Oliver, CEO HHC, Graeme Goebelle, Chair of Mississauga Halton LHIN, Dr. Don Trant, Minister Deb Matthews, Cindy McDonell, Georgetown Hospital Site Administrator, MPP Ted Arnott, Mayor Rick Bonnette, Councillor Moya Johnson, and seated in front Dr. Jeff Sutherland, chief of staff Georgetown Hospital.