For Immediate Release:  January 10, 2006

Make Fair Share of Provincial Health Care Funding the Central Issue in Markham and Burlington By-Elections, GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance Urges

Toronto: Voters in Burlington and Markham should support candidates in provincial MPP by-election who will fight to reverse the growing inequity in funding for their local hospitals that is forcing residents to seek hospital care further from home, according to the Chair of the GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance.

“Residents in Burlington and Markham have an opportunity to improve their local access to hospital care by making the under funding of local health care services a central issue of the campaign”, said Kirk Corkery, Chair of the GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance.  “The Alliance has been working to correct this funding inequity.  Unless we all call for a fair share of the provincial hospital and health resources the funding gap in Burlington and Markham will continue to widen.  That will mean residents will not get timely local access to required hospital care they need”.

A recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers identifies an $877 million gap in annual funding for hospital care in the high growth regions of Durham, Halton, Peel and York.  The large gap in annual operating funding results from the GTA/905 residents receiving $215 less per resident for hospital care compared to the average Ontarian.

 “I urge voters in Burlington and in Markham to insist that candidates in the by-election commit to ensuring that their local hospitals receive a fair share of provincial hospital funding,” Corkery said.  He also asked voters to support candidates who commit to fighting for additional hospital capacity in their communities and adequate funding of the smaller, local sites of multi-site hospitals.

“This is an opportunity for residents in Burlington and Markham to choose an MPP who will fight to improve their local access to hospital and other health care services”, Corkery said.  “Under funding has a huge impact on local access to hospital services.  It means that the residents of Burlington and Markham can wait longer for hospital care and are more likely to be forced to by-pass their local hospital and seek care further from home”.

The GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance has been calling on the Ontario Government to improve local access to hospital care and to address the hospital and health care funding inequities in Burlington and Markham and the rest of the GTA/905 by:

1.      Providing an immediate and adequate “growth funding” for hospitals serving the residents of the high growth regions of the GTA/905 including Burlington and Markham.

2.      Revising provincial funding formulas to fund health services on the basis of population size and characteristics; and

3.      Bringing forward a Provincial Health Care Strategy for Ontario’s High Growth Regions that will complement Places to Grow and offer an effective growth plan for Ontario’s high growth communities over the next 30 years.

In an acknowledgement of the funding gap, the Provincial Government allocated an additional $24 million in hospital growth funding last fall to help GTA/905 hospitals deal with pressures from population growth.

“The additional growth funding is a step in the right direction and a clear acknowledgement of the need for growth funding for high growth hospitals.  But $24 million to meet the needs of more than three million GTA/905 residents is far from adequate.  The province has a long way to go when you’re talking about an $800 million shortfall,” said Tariq Asmi, Executive Director of the GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance.

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 Alliance represents the three million residents in the GTA/905 regions to ensure that they get better care close to home.

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For information contact:

Tariq Asmi, Executive Director

GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance