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Some councillors say they are forced to support funding Continued from page 1 3 · Thursday, April 22, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Tom Adams, who moved the approval motion, said a new hospital is needed to provide clinically improved service levels and attract the best and brightest medical staff to the Oakville community. "We've heard from our medical community that improvements are necessary not only in the size, but in the type of facility that we have. The use of single-patient rooms for the majority of the space is not about creating luxury accommodation. It is about creating better patient outcomes and patients will not be turned away as a result," said Adams. "Hospitals are prohibited from turning away patients based on their ability to pay under Canadian legislation. Under the Public Hospital Act and the Canada Health Act, the only requirement for admission to a hospital is an admitting order from a patient's physician." Ward 5 Town and Regional Councillor Jeff Knoll said he is upset the Province has forced the Town to either contribute the local share dictated or see the provincial funding for the hospital go to other "We've heard from our medical community that improvements are necessary not only in the size, but in the type of facility that we have. The use of single-patient rooms for the majority of the space is not about creating luxury accommodation. It is about creating better patient outcomes and patients will not be turned away as a result ." Ward 6 Town and Regional Councillor Tom Adams communities. At the end of the day, however, he said the Town has no choice because the majority of Oakville residents want a new hospital. Council can't risk calling the Province's bluff, he said. "We've been told that we have to stand up and fight the Province, draw a line in the sand and say, `Heck no, we're not going to do this,'" said Knoll. "That's all great in theory, but the bottom line is you can just ask our friends at C4CA (Citizens for Clean Air) how successful they've been so far at trying to get the Province to change its mind about something. It just ain't going to happen." Ward 1 Town and Regional Councillor Alan Johnston said Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH) has been Oakville's hospital since 1948 and has served the community well, but pointed out that the community has outgrown the facility and it is too small to be the hospital Oakville needs today and in the future. Delaying the project, he said, would condemn countless residents to seek basic health care outside the community, something he considered unacceptable. "This council has listened, has asked questions and now it's time to decide. I believe we have done our due diligence and have the information to make that decision and that decision is, do we want a hospital of the 21st century or are we satisfied with one that was built in 1948?" said Johnston. Ward 4 Town and Regional Councillor Allan Elgar chastised the previous provincial government during his remarks for not allowing regional governments to collect development charges for the funding of hospitals. In 2002, Elgar said he voted against growth at council, but lost. The consequences of that decision are being felt now, he said. While Elgar said he doesn't like the situation or the Province's refusal to publicly disclose a ballpark figure for what the hospital will actually cost, he feels responsibility must be taken for the previ- ous council's decision to permit growth by ensuring adequate health care for this growing population. Elgar also said the new hospital, which will be located at the corner of Third Line and Dundas Street, would be good for Oakville's economic development creating a nucleus for new employment and result in the creation of a life sciences park. Ward 6 Councillor Max Khan said the hospital is affordable for both the Town and Oakville residents and outlined why in a rudimentary calculation. In this calculation, he noted that for the local share , if the Town needed to borrow $130 million, under a worst-case scenario, the total amount to be repaid, with interest, would be $283 million. Assuming there will be more than 88,000 households when the money needs to start being paid back in 2015, each household will be required to pay $3,187. This breaks down to $106.23 per household per year and 29 cents per household per day. "So what do we get for that? See Hospital page 5