Huron County council will support a $750,000 request for upgrades to the CT scanner and the mental health unit at Alexandra Marine and General Hospital in Goderich.
But the vote was close, passing by one vote.
Huron East Mayor Bernie MacLellan was one of the councillors voting against the motion.
He said the issue was never about the service but about whether the county should be covering health care costs, which is a provincial responsibility.
“And now that it's [CT scanner] needing major upgrades they're back asking for another three-quarters of a million dollars and, in my opinion, we are now becoming one of the major funders for keeping that piece of equipment going," said MacLellan. "When that should be getting paid for through our health care tax dollars, through the province.”
MacLellan said in some cases, if the county doesn't pick up some of the cost, there is a danger the service could be lost.
“But, on the other side, if we keep supplying funding to keep all of these services going in the area, at what point does health care become a major part of our budget and your property taxes were never meant to be funding health care,” added MacLellan.
The current $750,000 funding will be spread out over five years.
The total goal for the AMGH Foundation is $3.5 million.
