Divisional court dismisses latest appeal from group opposing mega hospital location

The lawyer for a group opposing the location of a new mega hospital in Windsor said the fight is not yet over, after a divisional court dismissed its latest appeal.

The appeal is one of many put forward by Citizens for an Accountable Mega-Hospital Planning Process (CAMPP), which takes issue with the planned location of the acute care facility at County Road 42 near the Windsor Airport.According to a city press release Thursday, divisional court justice Greg Verbeem said that each of the group's proposed grounds of appeal was "without merit."

CAMPP tried to convince the Ontario Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) last October that the hospital's planned location was flawed and should be denied.

The appeal with LPAT was lost in December 2019.

On May 6, CAMPP held a hearing before judgeVerbeem during which the group sought an appeal to leave against the LPAT decision and get another hearing.

Windsor's Mayor Drew Dilkensmade the dismissal announcementThursday via a virtual video conference. Thecourt awarded costs to the City of Windsor and Windsor Regional Hospital of $25,000 plus HST.

Dilkens said it's time to move past the appeals and get the project started.

"Today marks the end of a another chapter in our region's long fight to build a modern health system," Dilkens said. "The time has come for us to move forward as a region, united."

He said he hopes the dismissal ends the "needless delays that have set our region back" and says the city and Windsor Regional Hospitalcan now look toward securing funding.

He said the region "can't wait any longer" to get started and that the pandemic has emphasized how essential it isto have strong healthcare resources and facilities.

Tecumseh Mayor and health unit board chair Gary McNamara was also present for the mayor's announcement and said the hospitalproject will "change the face of healthcare in this region for generations to come and be the foundation for a modern hospital."

But CAMPP lawyer Eric Gillespie said Thursday that the fight isn't over.

"It's one step in a very lengthy process and that process may well continue for a considerable length of time," he said, adding that CAMPPis able to review the decision from the divisional court and can appeal certain parts of it.

"I would anticipate that sometime in the near future...we'll be in a position then to know what steps,if any, CAMPP will take next," Gillespie said.

The primary argument of CAMPP has been that the southern location is too far removed from the core of the city. CAMPP spokesperson Philippa Von Ziegenweidt has said that the location will not be helpful in attracting specialized doctors to the region.

"A hospital out in the middle of nowhere because that's essentially where it is right now is not going to be conducive to the quality of life of a new physician," she said at the beginning of June.

She said there needs to be amenities where people live and work and that "we need to build an attractive city."

"I don't think this is a strategy that's going to make Windsor an attractive place to live."