Most communities in our region are struggling to find doctors, but in West Grey, they’re struggling to find room to house their doctors.
The South Bruce Grey Health Centre recently approached West Grey council in hopes of getting support for an expansion to the medical clinic in Durham.
Talks are very preliminary about what would need to be done to the clinic and what the cost would be, but West Grey Mayor Kevin Eccles says he’s always had a hard time giving property tax dollars to health care.
Eccles says he doesn’t believe dollars meant for hard services should be put into something that’s supposed to be a provincial responsibility.
Health Centre CEO Paul Davies warns Eccles not to let such a great opportunity slip because there simply isn’t space, but Eccles says he is very excited that West Grey is in this position.
He says there may be other ways council can help, such as waiving the tax on the building, as the municipality did for the clinic when it first opened.
Eccles says once the Centre can bring in some figures, and get a better idea of the work that will be done, council will get into further discussions.
The current medical clinic houses six doctors, and they need room for Dr. Hernan Boniolo who will join the clinic when he’s done his residency in February.
There is also the possibility of the clinic housing a Family Health Team, in which they would need space to house nurses, dieticians, and other health care workers.
