On Monday city council approved yet another loan to Regenerative Medicine, the city’s privately owned non-profit bone and tissue bank.
Totalled, the city has given the company more than $1.2 million to stay afloat.
Earlier in the week Health Minister Deb Matthews promised provincial help, stating ReGen Med has a great product and a good business plan.
Matthews hasn’t said how much Ontarians plan to contribute, only that their ask wasn’t as great as the city’s contribution to date.
Enough is enough.
It’s time for the company to put up or shut up shop.
A spokeswoman said ReGen Med has a three-year sustainability plan, and that once those three years are up, they’ll be able to stand on their own two feet.
Let’s hope so.
With crumbling infrastructure worries and other priorities plaguing Thunder?Bay, municipal taxpayers can’t afford to keep propping up a business for the sake of a few jobs, albeit well-paying ones.
There’s only so much money in a well that’s rapidly drying up, and while we support the help the city has given to date, the time has come for ReGen?Med to take its first steps toward self-sustainability and wean themselves off the public purse. Either that or let the province take over the service entirely.
