300 Pine Street has a deep gravel and sand pit which takes up approximately 1/3 of the available lands for the proposed future South Muskoka Hospital.
Summary of Concerns Regarding Site Selection
300 Pine Street has a deep gravel and sand pit which takes up approximately 1/3 of the available lands for the proposed future South Muskoka Hospital.
I’m pretty sure there’s more than enough space to build a hospital, its like 42 something acres… I don’t even know if your so-called “committee” is aware, but I was told the Town of Bracebridge actually recommended that site for the new hospital (maybe you should look into that). So, let me ask you straight, what exactly is your goal here? Is it to stop a brand-new hospital from coming to Bracebridge? Is your mission to hold residents back from having modern services and facilities?
The current hospital is outdated…it’s 2025. The parking is a joke, there’s no room for growth, and anyone with eyes can see that. Yet you want to block progress? What’s your motive?
Honestly, I wish your group would take the time to educate yourselves. All you’re really doing is hurting people. Orillia will have their hospital before we do, and every time you interfere, you’re just creating more delays. Do you seriously think hospital locations are chosen by one random person at a desk? It’s government-driven guidance. So, stop acting like it’s all some backroom decision.
Grow up.
Thank you for taking the time to share your views on this important issue.
In response, and for clarity, the Save South Muskoka Hospital Committee supports the building a new hospital in South Muskoka. However, we do not support MAHC’s current plan for a 46-bed hospital. We want changes to the plan during the current provincial review process. Additionally, this examination into the land selection is important as it highlights a process that has not been run openly and with public input. We question whether the selected site (300 Pine Street) is the right one.
We respond to your particular points below:
• Transparency: We disagree with the assertion that asking for the release of reports and clarity on costs is “blocking progress.” It is ensuring taxpayers and the residents and visitors to South Muskoka can get the best hospital to position us for robust healthcare for generations to come.
• Insufficient Usable Land: 300 Pine Street is 44 acres, but approx. 12 acres are unusable due to a sand/gravel pit. That leaves less than the 40 usable acres the Ministry requires for a new hospital build.
• Cost Concerns: Independent engineering advice suggests that the topography and gravel pit on 300 Pine Street will result in these lands being far more costly to prepare and service than other shortlisted sites. The public still has not seen the engineering report behind this decision, but we are very concerned that significant portion of the overall budget is being directed into land remediation costs. We question the reasonableness of this approach.
• Town Recommendation: Through our extensive involvement on this issue, we are not aware of any recommendation from the Town of Bracebridge for the new hospital site. The Town purchased the 300 Pine Street lands in June 2023, but the Town did not independently select those lands for the hospital. This was a decision made by MAHC. At the time of the Town’s purchase, it was unclear if those lands would be used for the hospital and the Town identified possible other uses if the lands were not to be used for the new hospital. Should you have another source of information on the issue, please do bring this to our attention.
To be clear, our Committee wants a modern hospital — but one that is cost effective and will result in a hospital that will be sustainable into the future. The current plans fall very short of this. Overall, this is too important an issue to leave alone without public scrutiny. These are our significant tax dollars at work and the livelihood of the South Muskoka community is at stake.
For more information, we would also encourage you to read our Committee’s Purpose Statement and Key Points of Advocacy Statement which sets out our mandate and objectives: https://ssmh.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2025-02-04-PURPOSE-AND-KEY-POINTS-OF-ADVOCACY-STATEMENTS.pdf
I thought the site was chosen, in part, because of the proximity to Highway 11 – an essential route for ambulances/emergency vehicles. Is this not correct?
Thank you for your question.
The simple answer to your question is no – we are not aware that proximity to the highway was a determinative factor for MAHC in the site selection process.
However, the Town of Bracebridge identified proximity to Highway 11 as being beneficial. For clarity, it was MAHC, not the Town, that made the final site selection.
The Committee has significant concern with the access and egress options to 300 Pine Street. These issues have not been properly addressed. As you may know from your experience, Depot Drive is already a very busy and congested area of town. Within the first 100m there is a right turn into a very busy Tim Hortons and a left turn into Boston Pizza, Home Depot and A&W. This busy roadway continues to the retail area and will only get busier as this area expands with new stores being built now and into the future.
We are not aware of MAHC having considered the significant hospital traffic including patients (which we are now advised will increase to over 140,000 annual patient visits over the current 60,000), hospital staff, visitors and Emergency services. This connection route will create a tremendous amount of added traffic and safety concerns for the public and Emergency Services.
These concerns were acknowledged by Mayor Maloney to us in a recent meeting; he stated this is being looked into. At this point we are not aware of a solution to the traffic concerns having been addressed.
The Committee questions is this the best location for the new hospital and believes the site selection process needs to be reevaluated accordingly.