Health Minister reaffirms commitment to new Groves

NEWS RELEASE
Ted Arnott, MPP
Wellington-Halton Hills
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 10, 2012

Health Minister reaffirms commitment to new Groves
Hospital
(Wellington-Halton Hills) – In a display of non-partisan cooperation, Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted
Arnott welcomed Health Minister Deb Matthews to Centre Wellington on December 6.

Together, the Minister and Mr. Arnott unveiled a sign which marks the location of the planned new
Groves Memorial Community Hospital on Beatty Line in Fergus. Also participating in the unveiling were
Wellington County Warden Chris White, Centre Wellington Township Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj, Groves
Hospital Chair Paul Smith, Hospital CEO Jerome Quenneville, and Dr. Pat Otto.

Mr. Arnott delivered the following remarks at the event:

It is both an honour and a pleasure to be here, as the MPP for Wellington-Halton Hills.

And as I said on Election Night fourteen months ago:

“Now we must reach out to our opponents as well as those who supported them, and offer to work with
them, in the interest of everyone in Ontario. Now we must roll up our sleeves and get back to work on
behalf of the people of Ontario.”

I meant it, and in that spirit, I welcome the Minister of Health, the Hon. Deb Matthews, to our Riding.

Your presence here today dignifies our celebration.

But I can only go so far…I’ve already been teased mercilessly about the red tie I’m wearing today,
and I’m sure it will continue, but let me just say, my choice of ties today has more to do with the season
than it is an effort to gain points with the Minister!

But Deb, as I promised you I would do, I again express my appreciation to the Government of Ontario
for approving our new hospital here in Centre Wellington, for your support for Georgetown Hospital, and I
thank you and your staff, especially Shawn Kerr, for your help last fall.

As I have said over and over, hospital capital decisions are so very, vitally important to communities.

These decisions on new hospital construction should never, ever be made into political footballs, punted
back and forth by provincial politicians. And I say it here again today, in the presence of the Minister.

We have a great story to tell here at Groves.

Compassionate care, second to none in Ontario.

A team environment, where everyone in the hospital works together.

A community that stands behind its hospital, with outstanding municipal government leadership both at
the County and the Townships, and we acknowledge and thank our colleagues in local government.
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Enthusiastic volunteers, who put in countless hours to help anyway they can.

Community members who willingly dig deep to help provide the financial support the project needs.

And our vision, inspired by Dr. Groves so many years ago, to be a leader in rural and small town health
care, a centre of excellence,

Breaking down silos in the public interest and in the interest of patients, as an example to the rest of the
Province.

We celebrate all of this today, as well as the Christmas season which is upon us. A time of love, joy,
family, faith and a time of giving.

As we continue to plan this new hospital, with target dates for going to tender, completion and official
opening, let us think of it as a gift to the generations who follow us, our children and our grandchildren.

Planning for tomorrow. The promise of the future.

And let them, the next generations, be able to look back on our time and truthfully be able to say:

That those who worked together, in the second decade of the 21st century, gave our community the
greatest gift of all.

Thank you very much.
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Ted Arnott, MPP
Phone: 416-325-3880
Email: ted.arnott@pc.ola.org

Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott with the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, the Hon. Deb
Matthews, December 6, 2012. (Photo: Rob O’Flanaghan/Guelph Mercury)