Health Sciences North not giving up on NEO Kids expansion

The CEO for Health Sciences North says he's pleased a stand-alone children's hospital in Sudbury is still possible.

At a board meeting on Wednesday, the Northeast Local Health Integration Network the agency that oversees healthcare in the region turned down the hospital's$55 millionproposed project.But the LHINalso asked the hospital to pitch the idea again, with greater detail,at the next board meeting in September.

"To some extent I am very pleased because it is not a no," said hospital CEO Denis Roy.

"If it had been a 'no,' it would have meant that all our efforts to move forward with kids health would have been not very useful."

The proposal was short on the kind of financial detail needed to convince the Ministry of Health to fundroughly 90 percent of the $55 million pricetag, saidDanielle Blanger-Corbin, chair of theboard for the Northeast LHIN.

"It is an idea that is wonderful. As a mother, as a parent, I too want my children to have access to medial services as close to home as possible," she said.

"With these kinds of proposals you often get one chance to present your idea [to the province]. If what you are presenting is not rock solid, then there is a good chance it will not go through."

The hospital needs to show how consolidating existing children's treatment services in Sudbury into the new NEO Kids centre would save the province money,Blanger-Corbin said.

More financial details

The proposal also needs to include more detail about how many children from northeastern Ontario have to travel outside the region for acute care and access to specialists, the hospital was told.

Gaining the support of the LHIN would be a first step for the project. It would ultimately be up to the Ministry of Health to decide whether to fund the proposal.

The expansion of NEO Kids would allow for more pediatricians to work in Sudbury and would keep more sick children closer to home for their treatment, the hospital said.

The new centre would also consolidate other services, such as psychiatrists and existing clinics, into one location, would reduce wait times and it would incorporate cultural components for aboriginal children, it added.

The hospital's proposal asks the province to consider putting the project on its priority list for construction after 2017, the date when the Liberal government plans to balance the provincial books.