JARVIS—Since meeting with the Norfolk Haldimand Community Hospice Board of Directors last February, Haldimand County has been discussing how it can assist the group in building a new centre for hospice palliative care in the area – including the offer of an 8.75-acre lot to host the facility.
The property is tucked behind a row of houses off of Main St. N. in Jarvis, with staff confirming the suitability of the property for the intended use and its ideal central location between Haldimand and Norfolk counties.
The only issue with the land is the need to access an additional small parcel, which would serve as the entryway to the facility but is currently owned by Infrastructure Ontario (IO). While the County has formally submitted a request to IO to obtain those lands, along with supporting correspondence from the board, they are still awaiting a response.
“We have reached out to IO through legal support services and continue to pester them to get a response. That’s an ongoing process; there’s no finality to that at this point in time,” said County Manager of Community and Development Services Mike Evers.
He continued, “We put in a request that laid out the limited utility of those lands for IO, the technical needs, and ultimately what it was to be used for. Along with our submission the board put together a lengthy and well put-together letter laying out the need for a hospice in this location.”
In the time since, the board has received an offer to place the hospice on a separate, privately-owned piece of land in Jarvis, along with similar offers to ultimately move the hospice out of Haldimand and onto private land in Norfolk County. Evers noted that details regarding those other potential sites remain confidential at this time.
“We have similarly met with representation from the board, as well as having ongoing dialogue with the property owner and board membership, in terms of the necessary application path and different servicing options as it relates to those private lands,” he added.
While the County-owned piece of property sits ready for use, County staff have met with the private Jarvis property owner to discuss its potential feasibility as an alternate site should the IO fail to provide a timely response to Haldimand’s request.
While the board continues to mull their options, Ward 1 Councillor Stewart Patterson made no attempt to hide his ultimate hopes for the hospice to be built in Jarvis.
“I want to see this built in Haldimand, specifically Ward 1,” said Patterson. “It’s central to both counties. I realize the board’s representation is very heavily weighted with Norfolk representation.”
“I know Mike and staff have turned over every rock in terms of dealing with IO, but anything we can do to make this project proceed and keep it in Haldimand would be very beneficial,” he continued. “To be very blunt with you, I don’t really care about Norfolk at this point, I want to see this within Haldimand.”
Evers noted that regardless of where the board ultimately lands in terms of property, County staff will continue to “support the group in terms of its due diligence, laying out different options so there’s some flexibility in terms of how they can move forward…. Ultimately it will be a board decision to land on one of the County-owned properties or to proceed with a Norfolk property. That’s where things sit at this time.”
Ward 3 Councillor Dan Lawrence lamented the potential local loss of the facility due to provincial red tape.
“There’s not just a want for this hospice, there’s a need, a necessity. Of course, at the provincial level they’re clamouring for municipalities to make things happen and yet again we’ve got a wall from the Province here,” said Lawrence. “Is there anything we can do to expedite this, or are we just following our channels we have to follow and we’re at the mercy of Queen’s Park again?”
Evers replied, “I think we’ve done everything we can do in terms of staff-to-staff and provided as much compelling details or arguments as we can…. We continue to follow up with IO in trying to get some movement there…. It’s a very slow moving process…. You’ve got to stay on top of it, which is what we’re doing.”
For now, Evers said the hospice board is continuing to look at multiple properties while trying to determine “what the best fit is, what the smoothest path forward is in terms of land acquisitions, they’re looking at their overall costs.… The board is wrestling with what property to settle on…. Part of what the board is likely wrestling with is informed by the lack of response from IO.”
Stay tuned to The Press for more details on this story as they emerge.
