It's the news residents in West Niagara have been waiting to hear, however you can't blame the community for being cautiously optimistic.
Premier Doug Ford is promising a new hospital for West Niagara saying he's never seen a community so passionate about local health care.
Ford was in Grimsby today announcing his government's intention to rebuild West Lincoln Memorial Hospital.
To begin this work, the Premier announced a $500,000 grant to begin the planning to replace the 72-year-old facility on Main Street.
The government is also investing $8.5 million to support immediate infrastructure improvements while the early planning work for the redevelopment of the hospital is undertaken.
When asked about the timeline for the development the Premier said ASAP.
The hospital was built in the 1940's and delivers almost 1000 babies a year.
Niagara West MPP Sam Oosteroff says this is a firm commitment to ensure services such as obstetrics and surgical programs stay in West Niagara.
He says this is a project that the PC government is planning to move very fast on.
Oosterhoff says services will remain at the West Niagara hospital instead of a Hamilton Health Sciences plan to remove and relocate services while renovations took place.
A community movement to save the hospital launched over a month ago when WLMH's Chief of Staff Gary Benson resigned after being blindsided by Hamilton's plan to move services out of the hospital for over two years to renovate the facility.
Many in the community feared that services would never return and Dr. Benson said it would be a final blow to the hospital.
Committee members of the Save West Lincoln Memorial Hospital group applauded the announcement, but said they won't relax until shovels are in the ground.
One member stated "our work is not done here".
The community has rallied to save the hospital numerous times, including back in 1997 when it was slated for closure.
Ford told the crowd of hospital workers and local officials "I'm here today to commit to the good people in West Niagara: we're going to build you the hospital you need. You've got the best front line health care staff — the nurses, the doctors, the support workers here in Niagara — they are all fantastic. But you need a facility that helps you do your job the best you can," said Ford. "Today's announcement is another step in our commitment to end hallway medicine and deliver excellent front line health care to the people of Ontario."
The $8.5 million upgrades expected to begin in December 2018 involve the hospital's elevator, emergency generator, fire alarm system, nurse call systems, cooling and heating, plumbing and electrical systems and replacement of flooring tiles and selected cabinets and casework.