Thibeault Says There's Movement On NEO Kids Funding

By: Nick Liard

Health Sciences North and NEO Kids may still have a long way to go for a standalone child treatment centre, but progress is being made.

Last week Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault announced funding for Health Sciences North, and says there is available money in the provincial budget for new hospitals.

Thibeault says NEO Kids has applied for funding through the capital branch at the Ministry of Health.

Thibeault says they are at stage zero of the process but, Ontario’s Minister of Health was in Sudbury not long ago and had a chance to see the current facility.

NEO Kids currently gets around 35 thousand patient visits yearly, but many still have to travel out of town for care.

Early estimations puts the cost for a new facility at HSN at around 55 million dollars.

While NEO Kids waits on government funding, the community continues to buy into the proposed facility.

From October to April, Greater Sudbury Utilities launched it’s Waste Less, Do More campaign which donated 10 dollars for every customer that switched to paperless billing.

The campaign raised 25 thousand dollars which was then doubled by GSU.

Each month bill is two pages and with the switch, GSU estimates they reduced the amount of shredded paper by 350 bags per year.