For Immediate Release:
March 7, 2005

Town OF AJAX JOINS CALL FOR FAIR HEALTH CARE FUNDING FOR GTA/905 REGIONS

Ajax – The Town of Ajax Municipal Council has unanimously endorsed a resolution calling on the Ontario Government to address the health care funding inequities facing Durham and the GTA/905 regions and joined in the call on the Premier to provide a fair share of health care funding to the regions to improve access to health services for their residents.

“On behalf of the residents of Ajax and Durham, Council recognizes the importance of fixing the health care funding problem that results in significant underfunding of hospitals in Durham and the 905 regions,” said Mayor Steve Parish. “Access to health care services is essential for attracting business and residents to a region”.

“We’re heartened to see that the City of Ajax is calling on the Provincial government to address the chronic under funding of hospitals and other health care services in Durham and the rest of the GTA/905 region” said Kirk Corkery, Chair of the GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance. “The inequity in healthcare funding has gone on for too long and in fairness to the three million residents living in Ontario’s fastest growing communities, this inequity must end”

“It’s essential that the hospital funding inequities and the historic health care funding gap be addressed by the provincial government so that the Rouge Valley Health System can provide the health care services residents from Ajax, Pickering and Whitby expect and deserve”, said Hume Martin, President and CEO of the Rouge Valley Health System.

Funding inequities for the GTA/905 regions mean that there are significant gaps in annual health care funding for GTA/905 residents which compromise the residents’ access to health care services. For the region of Durham the gap in annual funding is significant when compared to average per capita health care funding for regions in Ontario (excluding northern Ontario and Toronto):

“We look forward to continuing to work with all our Regional and Municipal partners to bring the message to the Provincial government that the GTA/905 region is under funded for health care services,” said Tariq Asmi, Executive Director of the GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance. “Not only is it an access issue but because GTA/905 hospitals are lower cost providers of health care services we can cost-effectively help the government achieve its goals to reduce wait times for accessing key health care services”

“Considering that residents of Durham contribute $109 million annually to the province’s new Ontario Health Premium, the issue of fairness becomes even more important”, noted Corkery. “The Premier is arguing that Ontario does not receive our fair share from Ottawa in terms of federal spending, yet there is huge health care funding disparity within Ontario”.

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 health care close to home.

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