The Portage District General Hospital Foundation has been presenting a proposal to see a new hospital built in the city and hopes to gain a strong voice to present their case to the province.

Executive director Tara Pettinger gave a presentation to both the City of Portage and the RM of Portage.

Mayor Irvine FerrisMayor Irvine Ferris outlines the highlights that were presented.

"At Monday night's council meeting, the Portage and District General Hospital Foundation did a presentation on the possibility of a new hospital, and it was a very good presentation," says Ferris. "They kind of went over the history of last few years and what they've been doing to bring about a new hospital. It's 65-years-old. It's 88 beds and it's the only acute care facility in Southern Health. So, it's a very, very important hospital, not just to our community, but also to the entire region."

He notes a building assessment was done in 2019.

"The assessment determined that the building was in fair to poor condition -- 50 to 75 per cent of the infrastructure could really not be renovated up to standard. And the cost of renovating would be approximately $205M. The Foundation had a comprehensive report done on what a new hospital would look like, and that's what they presented to council on Monday evening."