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www.insideHALTON.com | O AKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, D ecem ber 9, 2 0 1 6 | 6 Editorial OTMH - open a year "C o n n e c t e d t o y o u r C o m m u n i t y " Oakvfle Beaver 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 General Inquiries: (9 0 5 ) 845-3824 Classified Advertising: (905) 632-4440 Circulation: 5300 Harvester Rd., Burlington (905) 631-6095 Volume 54 | Number 99 R emember when w e awaited its opening on Dec. 13, 2015? Remember when it was still years away? Now, our new hospital, the state-of-theart Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH) will celebrate its first anniversary at its new home at 3001 Hospital Gate (Third Line and Dundas Street) Tuesday (Dec. 13). After more than a decade of planning, four years of construction and months of preparation, the new hos pital opened its doors to patients Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015. At 6 a.m. that day, the hospital at 327 Reynolds St. closed. Seamlessly, thanks to much planning, rehears al and time, the Emergency Department at the new OTMH opened. All in-patients at the Reynolds Street hopsital building were moved to the $2.7-billion facility. All patients, from that moment on, made their way to the new facility for care. And we have. Its likely, by this time, many Oakville residents have already had occasion to visit, have an out patient procedure or spend time as an in-patient. The 1.6-million-square-foot facility featured up to 457 in-patient beds on opening day. That was 135 more than it had -- and there' s room for expansion. It offers a full range of health care, including mater nal and child, critical care, emergency, surgery, complex continuing care, rehabilitation, diagnostics, ambulatory care and a variety of support services. It features en hanced patient privacy and infection-prevention mea sures -- and is 80 per cent single-patient rooms. Not only is our new hospital brimming with the latest in technology, it also supports the emotional and mental aspects of healing through its design, rooms with a view and improved facilities for a patient' s family. It began with a block of provincial land. It was born after a $2.27-billion provincial government investment -- the largest by any level of government into any proj ect in Oakville -- and much hard work from Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn, a long-time champion of the new hospital. It neared fruition as the Oakville Hospital Founda tion, through the people of this community, raised a whopping $65 million, topped with a $130-million contribution from the Town of Oakville -- and not through a special tax levy thanks to Oakville Mayor Rob Burtons leadership. It has moved forward under the leadership of its current president and CEO, Oakville' s Denise Hardenne. The hospital has three MRIs, two CT scanners, its own helipad, an ambulance bay and 24 dialysis sta tions. The John Oliver Auditorium, named after Halton Healthcare' s former CEO, now Oakville MP, has capac ity for 400 people. There are 2,100 parking spaces, in cluding 1,180 in a six-level parking structure. The caf eteria offers 400 indoor seats and 60 outdoor seats. Not long ago, 3001 Hospital Gate was a held. Now, the important addition to our community^ landscape is one of the family. Happy anniversary. The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to: The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 5046 Mainway, Unit 2, Burlington ON L7L 5Z1 or via email to ablackburn@ oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. The Oakville Beaver is a division of ·* m e tro la n d m e d ia · * Connected to your com munity® Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. NEIL OLIVER Vice -P re sid e n t and G roup Publisher o fM e tro la n d W est Regional General M anager KELLY MONTAGUE DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director ANGELA BLACKBURN M a naging E ditor RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director LORI ANN GZOVDANOVIC B usiness M anager Director o f Production MARK DILLS MANUEL GARCIA P roduction M anager Director o f D istribution CHARLENE HALL KIM MOSSMAN C irculation M anager Letters to the Editor OakvieBeaver Proud Official M e d ia S p o n s o r For: Canadian Circulations Audit Board Member Readers impression: plans are a done deal I was at the Glen Abbey redevelopment Open House on Thursday, Dec 1. My initial assessment when I walked into the Club House, seeing all the charts, etc., on easels and then talking to heritage, environ mental, traffic study consultants and various other consultants made me think, ClubLink has spent a million dollars to woo us poor resi dents. I had to think this is a fait accompli. No, they said it is in the early stages of discussions. Per haps not. I won't bore you with all the claptrap. If you're concerned go up on Monday (Dec. 12) and listen to the consultants and make up your own mind. So many people have said it is a shame to destroy the course, however, there were not a lot of people there, so I guess talk is easy, but getting away from the TV is harder. David Cartwright, Oakville Recognized fo r Excellence by A W Ontario Community Newspapers Association Canadian Community Newspapers Association A c c r e d ite d «j L ocalM ediaa sso cia tio n Proud Official M e d ia S p o n s o r For: C /M Fm d fy. Thank you for assisting mother in need I am writing this letter as a thank-you and ap preciation to three residents of Oakville who showed true care when they helped a stranger who desperately needed it. And although I do not know the names of these individuals, I am very grateful to them for what they did. see xx on p.10 X. X-- 4 O n ta rio Press C ouncil Defending principles to inspire public trust The Oakville Beaver is a m em ber o f th e Ontario Press Council. The council is located a t 8 0 Gould St., S uite 20 6, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 4 1 6 -3 4 0 -1 9 8 1 . Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in th e event o f a typographical error, th a t portion o f advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, b u t the balance o f the advertise m ent will be paid for a t th e applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline. 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