The Honourable Deb Matthews
Minister of Health
M-1B114, Macdonald Block
900 Bay Street
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 1N3
Dear Minister:
RE: Southern Tier Hospital, Niagara Region
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Club Italia and our over 900 members, I am pleased to write this letter of support for the proposed Southern Tier Hospital in the Niagara Region.
To provide a brief background, Club Italia (Niagara Falls) is a member of the Order Sons of Italy of Canada. The official opening of the building took place in 1984. Since its inception, the Italian community has not only shown that they have big hearts, but they also have the skills, abilities and determination to complete their goals. Since then, Club Italia has not stopped growing. Social events, new programs, sports initiatives are the core of the Club – all of which welcome everyone by extending their hands outside the Italian Community.
Club Italia is committed to support, through countless fundraising activities, initiatives which benefit Niagara. For example, $450,000 has been donated to the Greater Niagara General Hospital by Club Italia, as well as the Club Italia Ladies Auxiliary. Many organizations have been the recipient of our donations, such as United Way, Tender Wishes, Dreams Take Flight and several special considerations for members of the community who required financial assistance during times of hardship. Our largest and number one priority is to healthcare for the residents of Niagara.
Minister, as business leaders in our Community, we have watched Niagara struggle with aging hospitals – one plan after another to patch up the system. Many of our Club’s members come from the construction and development industry and at some point, we all understand that sometimes you just have to tear it down and start over. Decommissioning aging facilities and replacing them with centrally-located modern ones is just the right thing to do on every business/healthcare model level.
We do believe that Dr. Kevin Smith’s plan to build a new hospital for South Niagara supported by two new Urgent Care Centres is exactly the right plan for Niagara.
Therefore, we encourage you to adopt all of the elements of his report so that together we can all commit to this highest priority for Niagara and get the project started as soon as possible.
Thank you very much for receiving and considering our letter.
Yours sincerely,
Joe Ingribelli
President
Club Italia
Lodge #5
Niagara Falls, Ontario
