Cambridge mayor sends letter to health minister, fed up with 2-year hospital delay

Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig has asked the province's health minister to look into delays in construction at the city's hospital.

A new patient care wing at Cambridge Memorial Hospital is two years behind schedule, and it doesn't appear it will be completed any time soon, Craig said.

In a letter to Health Minister Christine Elliott, he said this year alone the contractor, Bondfield Construction, has had seven different delays. That means renovations to the existing hospital have also been delayed.

In June, the hospital's board of directors was told it would be able to get possession of the new wing in late July.

"As a result, medical staff are working in frustrating, crowded and sub-optimal conditions," Craig said in the letter. "This is not acceptable, and our community deserves better."

In an interview with CBC K-W, Craig said he spoke with Elliott in Ottawa on Tuesday while attending the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference. 

"She was very good and didn't realize what was happening," he said, adding Elliott "has committed herself to investigating what's going on with our particular issue here in Cambridge."

• 'Poor co-ordination' blamed for 20-month construction delay at Cambridge Memorial Hospital
• Cambridge Memorial Hospital getting almost $1M to renew facilities

James Hildebrand, director of capital redevelopment at the hospital, told CBC K-W in June the delays are due to "poor co-ordination of the work by the contractor in ensuring that they have all their trades on site, and the right trades on site at the right time."

The redevelopment of the hospital has a fixed cost of $187 million because it's an Infrastructure Ontario alternative financing project.