For Immediate Release – Friday December 8, 2006

GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance Supports Minister Smitherman’s Call for Fair Health Care Funding for Ontario

Fair and Equitable Funding Needed at All Levels of Government Spending

Toronto: The GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance offers it full support to Ontario Health and Long-Term Care Minister George Smitherman and the Government of Ontario in seeking fairness in the Canada Health Transfer and calls upon the Federal government to allocate federal resources on the basis of population.

“No government funding inequities should be tolerated by any Canadian given that it’s our tax dollars that are being spent by governments”, said Kirk Corkery, Chair of the GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance.  “Every Canadian in every community deserves equality of access and services especially when it comes to health care.”

Minister Smitherman’s demand is based on a data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information that shows Ontario’s per capita spending on health care ranks seventh in the country and that Ontario receives $53 less funding per capita from the Federal Government  resulting in a $677 million shortfall annually.  The analysis is similar to a recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers which identifies an $899 million gap in annual funding for hospital care in the high growth regions of Durham, Halton, Peel and York.  The large gap in annual funding results from the GTA/905 receiving $215 less per resident for hospital care when compared to the average provincial per capita level of funding.

“The most fair, transparent and accountable way of allocating government funding is population-based funding”, added Corkery. “Minister Smitherman is correct in seeking additional federal funding given the large and growing gap in federal health care funding for Ontarians”.  

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 representing more than 25 per cent of Ontario’s population.  The GTA/905 area is the fastest growing region in Ontario, accounting for more than half 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.

-30-

For information contact:

Tariq Asmi, Executive Director

GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance

Cell: (416) 948-2033

Office: (416) 205-1331

Email:  tariq.asmi@gtahealthcare.com