Those living in Port Perry and the surrounding communities are feeling a bit of relief as the hospital is open once again.
A fire forced the closure of the facility just over a year ago.
“The heartbeat has come back to our community,” said Janna Guido, Township of Scugog’s deputy mayor.
It’s been 376 days since the Port Perry hospital was open for patients.
Now, the countdown can stop.
“We felt a significant loss in our community without having our hospital here,” said Guido.
On Aug. 25, 2017, a fire broke out on the roof of the hospital causing extensive damage and ultimately forcing it to shut down.
It was standing-room only to celebrate the reopening of the renovated facility on Wednesday.
“There are no words, just a feeling of ‘We’re back,’ and it’s just so wonderful. Everybody’s happy,” said Diane Martin, Auxiliary to Lakeridge Health Port Perry president.
“It’s hard going to another hospital when there’s such great care here in Port Perry and now that it’s reopened, I’m so excited to come back here,” said Nicole Witruk, a patient.
- Budget 2024 failed to spark ‘political reboot’ for Liberals, polling suggests
- Train goes up in flames while rolling through London, Ont. Here’s what we know
- Peel police chief met Sri Lankan officer a court says ‘participated’ in torture
- Wrong remains sent to ‘exhausted’ Canadian family after death on Cuba vacation
“There’s no real measure you can put on how important it is to get our hospital reopened, not only for our Scugog community but really for the whole Durham Region,” said Matthew Anderson, Lakeridge Health president and CEO.
Every year, Port Perry Hospital conducts over 13,000 diagnostic exams, delivers more than 400 babies and performs over 3,400 surgeries. It was a loss that other hospitals in the region helped pick up.
“From the moment that fire was put out, all we did was focus on reopening. We can’t afford to lose the capacity we have at the Port Perry Hospital,” said Anderson.
The temporary closure of the hospital allowed the region to conduct three years’ worth of upgrades in a span of just 12 months.
“Changing out all the washrooms, updating the rooms — we were able to do the entire floor in the emergency room. We would never get a chance to do that. We see over 14,000 patients in there a year — it’s never empty,” said Anderson.
While it might take the community years to put the devastating fire behind them, the restored and updated building will stand as a reminder of how much it means to Port Perry.
Comments