For Immediate Release:
November, 2000

Funding Pieces Falling into Place for Alliance Hospitals

Gale Mossman, GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance Chair, commended the government for their "good news" announcement allocating $19 million for GTA/905 hospitals. "The Minister of Health is filling in the pieces of a larger funding picture with Tuesday's funding news," she says.

"We anticipate that the Minister will continue to address and alleviate existing and future GTA/905 hospital service pressures as her series of funding announcements continue," says Mossman. "And with the government introducing tremendous amounts of funding back into health care, Alliance hospitals can come to grips with escalating service demands created by exceptional population growth that strain their current resources," she stresses.

According to Mossman the Alliance supports the Minister's goal of developing a new funding structure responsive to demographics and an educated, informed and health wise public. "We're looking to help create funding solutions that respond to capital needs such as major construction and equipment as well as operating needs to deal with the everyday pressures of providing service to patients. In the GTA/905 both capital and operating needs are compounded by growth two times the provincial average and the fastest growing aging population in the province," she says.

Population projections show that more residents move into the combined regions of Durham, Halton, Peel, York and surrounding areas than any other location in the province. This population trend is expected to last well into the future and continue to create service pressures as the population gets older.

According to Executive Director, Jim Armstrong: "We're beginning to see the various government announcements fit together like pieces of a puzzle and the final picture is shaping up to be quite positive. I believe we can expect the remaining announcements to address remaining gaps in the system, particularly in the GTA/905 where growth magnifies the impact that aging will have on health care."

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The GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance is a group of eleven hospital corporations from the regions of Durham, Halton, Peel, York and surrounding areas. Alliance hospitals include: Halton Healthcare Services, Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital, Lakeridge Health Corporation, Markham Stouffville Hospital, Rouge Valley Health System, Southlake Regional Health Centre, The Credit Valley Hospital, Trillium Health Centre, Whitby Mental Health Centre, William Osler Health Centre, and York Central Hospital.