The Portage District General Hospital Foundation is one step closer to seeing a new regional hospital facility in Portage la Prairie.

Executive Director Tara Pettinger outlines where they're at in the effort.

"On January 28th, the Hospital Foundation had an opportunity to present the proposal for a new regional health centre to the Southern Health-Santé Sud board," explains Pettinger. "That presentation gave us an opportunity to speak a little bit about the deficiencies and the needs within the community as well as a tour that was provided of the entire facility."

She notes their focus to the board was community support. Pettinger says they especially wanted the board to really understand the amazing support that the foundation receives through the various events they run and the attendance seen in those efforts. She adds they also shared ongoing donations that are received from individuals, small businesses, and larger corporations in our community.

"Following that meeting, we did receive notification that Southern Health-Santé Sud board was in favour of our proposal, which at this times means that they support it," continues Pettinger. "And the next step now is to move it to Manitoba Health. This is certainly a step in the right direction and is progress, but we recognize that there's a lot of things that need to happen."