More than a year after Queen's Park and the City of Ottawa agreed to build a new medical complex in Moosonee, Ont., to serve First Nations communities in the Far North, the Weeniebaiko Regional Health Authority (WAHA) recently learned that the federal government is not adhering to its policies. It pledged funding this year and did not allocate more than $1 billion in promised funding in the 2024 budget.
Undated photo of Weeniebaiko General Hospital on Moose Factory Island in the far north. The hospital opened in 1949 and will be replaced by a new, state-of-the-art facility in Moosonee, Ont. (File photo/Courtesy/Weenie Baiko Community Health Bureau Foundation)
WAHA CEO Lynn Innes told CTV News that WAHA expects the $1.3 billion in federal funding for the new hospital currently under construction to be included in the federal budget. Ta.
WAHA officials said this puts the project in jeopardy and preparations are underway to break ground this summer.
The new state-of-the-art facility will replace the 75-year-old Weeniebyko General Hospital on Moose Factory Island.
Officials have so far heard only vague comments from Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu about “building a hospital.”
“It's a huge setback. This is really disrespectful to the federal government, knowing that our current facility is approaching its 75-year lifespan,” Innes said.
“We have the worst hospital in the country. Like the majority of other sites held by WAHA, this is beyond repair.”
Innes said the project is critical to moving forward with the new health campus and redevelopment of the Moose Factory Outpatient Care Center.
WAHA officials said they did not know whether the lack of federal funding meant the project would be delayed or permanently shelved, and said they had requested a May 16 meeting between Hajdu and Prime Minister Trudeau.
