Photo: Shelburne Mayor Karen Mattatall speaks with Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil in Shelburne on August 28, 2015, the day $1.65 million in provincial funding was announced for renovations the Shelburne Medical Clinic. (Gary Nickerson photo)
Long awaited renovations for the Shelburne Medical Clinic have been scrapped.
The province was set to upgrade the vacant space on Roseway Hospital property into a collaborative health clinic.
However, the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal recently deemed the building unsafe to renovate, saying a new clinic is needed.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be a new building, but it could take up to a year and a half to get approval from the Nova Scotia Treasury Board, and more money will be needed.
Health Minister Leo Glavine says the province has the extra construction funds, and hopes to speed up the approval process as quickly as possible.
Conservative Argyle-Barrington MLA Chris d’Entremont tells CJLS, the Liberals should have done their due diligence before announcing the funding for the clinic.
The Town of Shelburne was informed of the finding by the Nova Scotia Health Authority on Monday.
Shelburne Mayor Karen Mattatall tells CJLS, she was shocked to hear the news.
Both the Town and Municipality of Shelburne have contributed funding to the project along with provincial funding, at a total of $2.4 million.
A physician recruitment committee began lobbying for the project in 2008, and a request for capital funding was approved in 2010.
The project was delayed in 2013 when mechanical and electrical system problems arose, raising the amount of funding needed to over a million dollars.
Last August in Shelburne, Premier Stephen McNeil announced $1.65 million in funding for the project.