Springwater health complex could be just what the doctor ordered
The die may not be cast just yet, but it’s being carefully moulded.
Springwater Township, through a partnership with Dr. Robert Gabor, is working on a plan that could eventually see a 40,000-square-foot health services complex built at 1432 Snow Valley Rd., just outside the Barrie city limits.
Township council gave approval Wednesday night for staff to continue to explore development options with Gabor in order to proceed.
“Actually, I’m very excited about the continued opportunity to move forward,” Gabor said following council’s decision. “We’ve been working on this, as Mayor (Jennifer) Coughlin said, for seven years.
“The idea of driving this forward as a community project is the best part of it,” he added.
Gabor is a Springwater Township-based family doctor who runs a sports medicine clinic, is an emergency room physician at Barrie’s Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH), serves as a local coroner and is one of the founding members of the Family Medicine Teaching unit at RVH.
Earlier this year, on Feb. 21, he was in front of council looking to explore a potential partnership with the township to create a Springwater Health Services Complex, to be located at the soon-to-be-built Community Hub at 1132 Snow Valley Rd.
At that meeting, staff were directed to continue discussions with Gabor and report back on potential options to move forward.
According to his report to council, Springwater chief administrative officer Jeff Schmidt said staff met and discussed the proposal with Gabor. During that process they identified another potential location at 1432 Snow Valley Rd.
“While it is staff’s understanding that Dr. Gabor’s preference is to be located at the Community Hub, he has indicated that he would be open to other locations in close proximity to the Community Hub,” Schmidt wrote in his report.
The location staff is recommending is two kilometres west of the Community Hub location and is currently home to the interim wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). It will also be home to the Ultimate WWTP, once it is fully constructed.
The total property size is 21.5 hectares (53.12 acres) with approximately 665 metres of frontage along Snow Valley Road.
Staff has identified approximately 10 hectares (25 acres) of this property where a health services complex could be considered.
“This is a huge accomplishment for Springwater,” said Schmidt. “It’s going to bring health services closer to home and that’s the goal."
He said "words can’t even describe” how fortunate the municipality is with the development.
“Dr. Gabor is building the first component of this campus and the idea is to expand this and provide additional services on the campus,” Schmidt added.
Those services could include a wide range of professional medical/health-care services and offices, radiology, lab services and an urgent care clinic.
Before getting too far ahead of itself, the township does have some work to do to move this project forward.
The proposed location is currently designated “employment” within the township’s Official Plan and zoned “industrial hold.”
The “employment” designation does not contemplate any medical- or clinic-type uses. The "industrial hold” zoning of the property also does not permit the clinic use.
“Both an Official Plan amendment (OPA) and a zoning bylaw amendment (ZBA) would be needed to facilitate a proposed private 'clinic' on these lands,” Schmidt wrote.
Staff has indicated that, although both properties that have been considered — 1132 Snow Valley Rd. and 1432 Snow Valley Rd. — would require an OPA and a ZBA, the property at 1432 Snow Valley Road may be a more appropriate property for this development as it would alleviate some of the traffic flow concerns related to the community hub property (1132 Snow Valley Rd.) and would still provide prime visibility on two highly travelled county roads (Wilson Road and Snow Valley Road).
In his report, Schmidt said there are a number of benefits to building the campus at 1432 Snow Valley Rd., including:
the land is located in an area experiencing high population growth
access is not restricted by Ministry of Transportation (MTO) and county engineering permits/design requirements
the use of these properties will not infringe on the recreational context of the Community Hub land
these properties are or can likely be serviced sooner than the Community Hub land
sufficient land area is available for Dr. Gabor’s proposal along with the potential creation of additional professional medical services hub.
Gabor downplayed the importance of his role, saying his interest in this project is just a natural extension of his commitment to the township.
“I live, work and play in this community,” the doctor said. “It’s my community and my tax dollars. We choose to live, work and play here because it’s an amazing township. Why wouldn’t I invest in something I believe in?"
Wayne Doyle, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, BarrieToday.com
