STEGH celebrates expansion ground-breaking

St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital Board of Governors Past Chairman and Aylmer resident Paul Bode, left, accepted a ceremonial shovel from Town of Aylmer representative and Hills Pharmacy co-owner John Bajc, during the “shovel relay” in a corridor in the hospital before the outside ground-breaking of the facility’s “Great Expansion” on Tuesday morning, Nov. 17. The project, “17 years in the making” according to hospital officials, involves a three-storey addition to the northwest side of the hospital which will encompass about 106,000 square feet and include a new emergency department, surgical suite, medical devices reprocessing department, an acute mental health unit and ambulatory services, and an ambulance garage. The Ontario government is investing $88.2-million towards the project which has a total cost of $98.3-million. Another over $16-million is being raised through community donations, of which about $14-million has already been realized.