For Immediate Release

Friday, November 25, 2005

GTA/905 Leaders Again Call for a Fair Share of Funding

as GTA/905 Hospital Funding Gap Continues to Widen

Whitby:  At a meeting today of GTA/905 Mayors and Chairs, representatives from Durham, Halton, Hamilton, Peel and York have called yet again on the Government of Ontario to provide a fair share of provincial health care funding to GTA/905 residents.

Today’s resolution calls on the Government of Ontario to:

·         Immediately provide adequate and targeted Growth Funding for hospitals in high growth regions;

·         Approve the capital development projects for Ajax, Milton and Burlington hospitals;

·         Reinstate development charges for the building of hospitals;

·         Move quickly to preserve the viability of hospitals in smaller GTA/905 communities;

·         Develop a “Health Care Strategy for Ontario’s High Growth Regions” using the GTA/905 Healthcare Alliances’ report, Places for Care as a starting point.

“The GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance working in partnership with GTA/905 Mayors and Chairs has been calling on the Provincial Government to improve local access to hospital care in the GTA/905”, said Kirk Corkery, Chair of the GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance.  “Our report, Places for Care offers a series of practical recommendations that will do just that as well as help to reduce wait times, save the government money and ensure that GTA/905 residents can get hospital care in their own communities”

GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance research shows that sHhEALince 2003, the funding gap for hospital services in the GTA/905 has widened from $590 million in 2003 to $740 million as of 2005 on a regional basis (per capita funding for GTA/905 residents' hospital care has fallen from $229 per resident below the provincial average to $255 below).  Using new Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) boundaries – the new health care planning regions being created by the province, the per capita funding for GTA/905 residents' hospital care has deteriorated.  GTA/905 LHINs received $146 less per resident than the provincial average in 2003 and now receive $164 less than the provincial average.  This means that the funding gap for hospital services in the GTA/905 LHINs has widened from $540 million in 2003 to $665 million today.

“The Premier is rightfully arguing that Ontario does not receive a fair share of funding from Ottawa, yet there is an issue of fairness in the Premier’s backyard”, said Mayor Brunelle, Mayor of the Town of Whitby.   “Certainly a portion of the $570 million paid by GTA/905 residents through the Health Care Premium can be reinvested in GTA/905 residents’ health care to improve local access to health care and address this fiscal inequity”.

The increasing gap in per capita funding for GTA/905 residents hospital services is due to the Provincial Government not providing adequate growth funding that is targeted to hospitals in high growth communities to meet health care needs of residents in these communities.  Hospital funding announced in June had provisions for hospitals in small, rural and northern communities, provided additional funding for the large health sciences centres and was intended to promote stability.  Residents in high growth communities like the GTA/905 are still waiting to see how the provincial government will support their access to local hospital care.

“For the Provincial Government’s plan for growth in Ontario to succeed, Premier McGuinty needs to actively respond to the growing needs for health care services in high growth regions like the GTA/905”,  added Durham Region Chair Roger Anderson, who chaired today’s meeting of the GTAH Mayors and Regional Chairs.  “A health care strategy for Ontario’s high growth regions that allocates provincial health care funding based on resident population, reinstates development charges for hospitals, protects health care in our growing rural communities and promotes local access to a range of necessary hospital services is essential to maintain the viability of fast growing GTA/905 communities”.

The GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance is the collective voice of acute care and mental health hospitals across the GTA/905 region - from Oshawa to Burlington and north to Newmarket.  Alliance hospitals provide care in communities that represent more than 25 per cent of Ontario's population.  The GTA/905 area is the fastest growing region in Ontario, increasing by more than 100,000 new residents annually and comprising more than 50 per cent of Ontario's annual population growth.  The GTA/905 Alliance represents the more than three million residents in the region to ensure that they get better care close to home.

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Resolution