A committee from London, Ont., is once again lobbying the Shriners to build a children’s hospital in the city.
Committee of past potentates press to build second facility
MONTREAL
A committee from London, Ont., is once again lobbying the Shriners to build a children’s hospital in the city.
Last July, London lost a bid to move the Shriners Hospital in Montreal down Highway 401 when delegates vetoed the idea at the philanthropics group’s annual convention.
But now a group of London Shriners who were involved in the original campaign to get the hospital moved wants the fraternity to build a separate hospital in their city.
“We have formed a committee of past potentates to look into the possibility of building a second hospital in Canada,” David Sloman, head of the Shriners London chapter, said.
A source told The Canadian Press the committee also includes Tony Dagnone, the recently retired president of the London Health Sciences Centre.
The Shriners’ own hospital search committee has long favoured moving the prestigious children’s hospital to London.
Over the past, they have expressed concerns about building a new hospital on the site of McGill University’s planned super-hospital.
Critics say soil at the site, a former train yard, is too contaminated.
Despite voting not to move their Montreal hospital, the fraternity has yet to commit to a new building on the super-hospital site.
“Montreal is not on our agenda to talk about new hospitals at this point in time,” Shriners Imperial Treasurer Gene Bracewell said.
In the past, Bracewell has made no secret of his preference for a London hospital.
The contest over a new pediatric hospital began in 2000 when Shriners began visiting several Canadian cities to decide what to do about the lack of space offered by Montreal’s facility.
They wanted more room for out-patient clinics.
Executives of the Shriners selection committee picked London last year but a vigorous counter-campaign from Quebec managed to keep the hospital from moving.
The Shriners, founded in 1872, have some half-million members. Their prime goal is supporting hospitals, most in the United States, to treat more than 700,000 children with orthopedic problems, severe burns and spinal cord injuries.
The Montreal hospital, a 40-bed facility, is the only Shriners’ hospital in Canada.
Canadian Press
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