In a fury of letters on Wednesday, the debate for where a brand-new Orillia Soldiers Memorial Hospital (OSMH) should go, continues. A special council meeting took place in Orillia to discuss a location for the hospital and a letter submitted to council from Lakehead University. Lakehead University president Dr. Gillian Siddall submitted a letter to Orillia council for discussion today, asking council to consent to the unconditional sale of approximately 25 acres of land from the Orillia campus to OSMH and reinvest the proceeds to the construction of a new academic building. “You have a hospital, a brand new cutting edge hospital beside a growing university, both of which bring so much to the city of Orillia,” said Siddall. “It’s a great opportunity for expansion and for providing more public good to the citizens of Orillia.” Mayor Don McIsaac released an open letter to residents, including three direct answers to Dr. Siddall’s letter. McIsaac referenced the city’s 2008 agreement in which the university contain 450,000 square feet of university by 2024. The university currently stands 82,000 square feet. The city has offered to help fund a new building for up to $15 million. McIsaac also pointed out residents gave the land to Lakehead for one dollar and now wants to sell the land to OSMH. “I always put the taxpayers first and I think we need conditions here, the conditions I requested were pretty simple, that the hospital agreed not to sell land, the hospital agreed to develop by a certain date,” said McIsaac. “They seem to be reticent to do that, For Lakehead, I didn’t want them to sell any more land, because if they sell any more land and they don’t have any room to expand.” The mayors motion was defeated and a new motion was put in place, allowing Lakehead University and OSHM to review and change their obligations and resubmit them to council on Auguste 10. Part of those renewed obligations including the university committing to using the money from the sale specifically to fund a new building on the Orillia campus. The special council meeting was tense at time including councilor Whitney Smith asking the university and hospital more than 60 questions that have previously gone unanswered. Despite the tension, McIsaac insists the importance of getting the right deal done. “Absolutely 100 per cent, no one in this room would disagree with Orillia getting new hospital, and no one could disagree about Lakehead expanding,” said McIsaac. “Absolutely. We’re all united violently on that, we just need to figure out how to get there.” Submissions are due on August 10 allowing Orillia staff and council to review the obligations before discussing it at another council meeting.
