Ensure hospital build helps locals, group urges
‘The process in itself can be of benefit in the community during construction’
With two hospital construction projects occurring in the region, Niagara Community Benefits Network executive director Kirstin Webb says his organization is working to ensure the region gets as much as it can from those investments.
“Not just the long-term infrastructure goal and final product, but the process in itself can be of benefit in the community,” she said.
Webb, however, said the network (NCBN) has yet to get a commitment from the developer building both at West Lincoln Memorial Hospital and the new south Niagara hospital.
She said NCBN previously contacted both Ellisdon Infrastructure Healthcare and Hamilton Health Sciencesin in hopes that a community benefit agreement could be developed for West Lincoln Memorial.
The agreements typically require a percentage of workers and suppliers to be local, while also supporting wider economic, social, cultural and ecological benefits to the community for generations to come, and, in some cases, the agreements form part of legally binding contracts between public agencies and private contractors.
But Webb said she was told the Grimsby project was past the point of including an agreement in the request for proposal, and it was “not part of what they agreed to from Ellisdon’s point of view.”
After it was clear getting a community benefit agreement for the construction of West Lincoln Memorial Hospital would not be likely, Webb said NCBN shifted its focus to the future Niagara Falls hospital “to really try to get them to agree to it.”
“With the south Niagara (build), we want to make sure we keep those benefits local as much as possible,” she said.
She said there has been precedent set for including agreements in recent projects.
Ellisdon’s contract for construction of West Park Healthcare Centre in Toronto included a community benefit plan led by Ellisdon and the centre.
Construction in Niagara Falls is to begin in July, after Infrastructure Ontario awarded a $3.6-billion contract to Ellisdon to design, finance, build and maintain the hospital.
Niagara Health, too, is making efforts to ensure Niagara residents play a role in building the hospital, with plans to develop networking opportunities to bring local construction companies and Ellisdon representatives together, allowing Niagara-based trades and suppliers to learn how they can be part of the project.
Webb said her organization has yet to receive a response to requests for a meeting to discuss issues.
“It definitely hasn’t been the easiest negotiation process,” she said.
“We’re hoping to be able to bring some feedback and ideas to them. We’re quite excited about the opportunities and we want to make sure they’re being incorporated into this process with Ellisdon.”
Webb said those opportunities should include “targets set for preapprentice job programs, specifically to bring marginalized groups and local groups into the skilled trades during the construction and after.”
“It’s also to ensure there’s a social procurement a sustainable filter that is brought to any purchases made during construction and following,” Webb said.
“Definitely, we’re in contact and trying our best to reach out to and get fruitful meetings with both Niagara Health and Ellisdon, but it has been an ongoing process.”
As a relatively new organization, Webb said it hopes “to engage the community on these kinds of things, to voice our opinions and to bring that public vision to these projects.”
“Make sure our voices are heard as a community, to make sure local businesses, individuals and community groups and especially those most in need in our communities are benefiting from these investments.”
More information is available at niagarabenefits.ca.