905 hospitals need several hundred million dollars to meet needs: report
CP Wire
Mon 02 May 2005
Section: Quebec-Ontario regional general news
Byline: BY GREG BONNELL
Source:

TORONTO (CP) _ The Ontario government must commit several hundred million dollars to aid hospitals overburdened by explosive population growth in the regions surrounding Toronto, says a report to be released Tuesday.

``If GTA hospitals were to be funded on a fair-share basis with respect to the rest of Ontario, there's this gap of several hundred millions dollars that needs to be addressed,'' a source familiar with the report told The Canadian Press.

``We've got a region here that has really got a major gap issue.''

The report from the GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance was to be tabled Tuesday and focuses on the state of hospital care in the regions of Durham, Halton, Peel and York.

The area is part of the so-called 905 region surrounding Toronto.

The advocacy group counts 11 hospitals in the region among its members. The alliance argues those hospitals toil under the highest patient occupancy rates in Ontario, a situation that will only be exacerbated as 90,000 new residents are welcomed to the area annually.

``With 90,000 people moving into the GTA each year, and funding not effectively addressing that on a per capita basis, the ability to deliver care close to home is becoming compromised,'' said the source.

The study found that on any given day, the percentage of acute care beds occupied in region hospitals is 94 per cent _ the highest rate in the province.

That compares to 82.5 per cent in Toronto and a provincial average of 77 per cent.

Using information drawn from a variety of sources, including the Ministry of Health and the Ontario Hospital Association, the study found region hospitals are forced to send more than one-quarter of residents elsewhere for treatment.

Only 73 per cent of 905 residents who need hospital care are being treated at their community hospital, compared with 89 per cent in Sudbury and 93 per cent in Windsor, the source said.

The alliance advocates a target rate of 85 per cent.

Despite the challenges, the study maintains 905-area hospitals spend taxpayers' dollars more effectively than their provincial counterparts.

``They are a low-cost provider of high-quality care in the communities they serve,'' said the source.

The call for more funding comes amid an desperate effort from the Ontario government to rein in escalating health-care costs.

The Ontario Hospital Association, to which the 905-GTA hospitals also belong, expects to end this fiscal year $330 million in the hole.

The association estimates hospitals will face a further funding shortfall of $760 million next year.

The Liberals have given hospitals until March 31, 2006, to balance their budgets.

Despite that, the report asks the government to dig deep to address the underfunding that plagues region hospitals.

``There's got to be some fundamental recognition these are unique hospitals in the health-care system,'' said the source.