For Immediate Release:
February 18, 2005

GTA/905 LEADERS CALL ON PREMIER McGUINTY
FOR A FAIR SHARE OF HEALTH CARE FUNDING

Jackson’s Point – At a meeting today of GTA/905 region mayors and chairs, representatives from Durham, Halton, Hamilton, Peel and York unanimously passed a resolution calling on the Ontario Government to allocate a fair share of health care funding to improve access to health services for their residents.

“For too long – under governments of all political stripes – our regions have not received a fair share of health care funding from the province,” explained Kirk Corkery, Chair of the GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance. “When compared to other regions in the province on a per patient basis, the GTA/905 receives 30 per cent less total health care funding, 27 per cent less hospital funding, and 24 per cent less for home care. We are calling on the McGuinty government to end this serious imbalance and provide our 3 million residents with the health care funding they require.”

Translating the per resident underfunding into total health care funding further demonstrates the significant shortfall for health care in the GTA/905:

“This massive gap in health care funding for GTA/905 residents is even more significant when you consider that the regions of the GTA will welcome and accommodate half of the province’s annual population growth in the years ahead,” noted Tariq Asmi, Executive Director of the GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance. “This population growth could be compared to adding the population of the City of Waterloo into the 905 region each and every year with no additional funding to accommodate that growth.”

Considering that residents of the 905 contribute $573 million annually to the province’s new Ontario Health Premium, the issue of fairness becomes even more important.

“The Premier is arguing that Ontario does not receive our fair share from Ottawa in terms of federal spending, yet the provincial government is not addressing funding disparity within our own borders when it comes to a fair share of health care investments,” said Asmi.

“The communities of the GTA are thriving and growing,” added York Region Chair Bill Fisch. “We need the government to make the necessary health care investments to support that growth. We ask that Premier McGuinty demonstrate his belief in fairness by providing our hospitals and health services with a fair share of health care funding – the disparity must end.”

“The lack of fairness in funding for the GTA/905 regions poses specific challenges for rural communities that have a large number of seniors,” said Marilyn Pearce, Mayor of Scugog. “Addressing health system funding inequities should be a priority for Premier McGuinty.”

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 90,000 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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