Grey County council has pledged $1 million over the next five years to a wellness and treatment centre being established in Owen Sound.
At its meeting on July 27, county council voted in favour of providing $200,000 a year over the next five years to Grey Bruce Health Services for its wellness and treatment centre project being developed at the former Bayview School in Owen Sound.
Grey Bruce Health Services approached county council earlier in the year about making a contribution to the project. The hospital corporation is hoping to raise $15 million for the $25 million treatment centre.
The hospital corporation is renovating the former Bayview Public School in Owen Sound into a 45-bed mental health and addictions treatment facility. The treatment centre will offer a wide variety of programs and supports for mental health and addictions patients. The project includes 17 long-term beds to help patients in recovery.
Not all members of county council favoured making a $1 million contribution to the project. Owen Sound Deputy Mayor Scott Greig moved an amendment to the motion to limit the total contribution to $400,000, which equalled the amount the county currently has in its Health Care Funding Initiatives Reserve.
Greig said the county is facing major financial pressures with the upcoming Rockwood Terrace long-term care project.
“It’s not prudent to go beyond $400,000 in terms of total funding,” said Greig.
Grey Highlands Mayor Paul McQueen supported limiting the contribution to $400,000.
“We have some challenges ahead of us,” he said.
The amendment was ultimately defeated in a 69-27 recorded vote with only Greig, McQueen along with The Blue Mountains Deputy Mayor Peter Bordignon and West Grey Mayor Kevin Eccles voting in favour.
Instead, council voted in favour of an amendment from Chatsworth Mayor Scott Mackey to immediately begin contributing $200,000 to the project over the next five years. County staff had originally recommended council begin the $200,000 payments starting in 2024.
Under Mackey’s amendment, the county will take $200,000 from the reserve to make the contribution this year and the amount will be included in the budget for 2024.
“It’s certainly warranted. It’s certainly needed in our area,” said Mackey. “It will be a tremendous resource.”
The county has a health care funding policy that calls for three quarters of one per cent of the tax levy (just over $500,000) to be included in the budget each year to be contributed to the health care funding reserve. However, that amount was not included in the 2023 budget in order to reduce the impact on the county portion of property tax bills.
Re-instating that contribution amount will be an option for the 2024 budget, or staff will present other funding options for the project if council does not wish to re-establish the full amount.
