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14 - The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday May 19, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Funding gap has broad ramifications in Oakville By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The plight of Oakville's underfunded health and social services was brought to light during a recent Oakville Leaders Forum. Organized by the Oakville United Way, the forum featured leaders from the social services sector, the municipal government, local law enforcement and the health care sector, all of whom spoke on the need for a raised awareness of the government funding gap that exists in Oakville. Addressing an audience of about 40 people, Barbara Burton, CEO of the United Way of Oakville, immediately set the tone of the meeting stating that this was a problem the institutions of Oakville would have to work actively to fix themselves. "It is unrealistic to think that the government will be able to fund all services that are necessary to build a strong community. We, that means you and I, have to find a way to mind the gap," she said. "As concerned individuals, we must work together to articulate the need. That means working collaboratively with the region, town, boards of education, police, fire department and business leaders." Oakville Mayor Rob Burton let the audience know exactly what they were up against pointing out the inequalities present in the provincial funding received by Oakville and the Halton region. "Residents of Oakville, Halton, the entire 905 are getting less provincial funding for health and social services than other Ontarians," he said. "We receive $190 million less than the provincial average for hospital care, we get $14 million less for home care and we get $80 million less for social services." Mayor Burton said the province is beginning to wake up to Halton's health and social service funding problem, noting that GTA social pooling would be phased out over seven years. In the past five years under GTA pooling, Oakville taxpayers had contributed $75 million to fund social services in Toronto. Under the phase out plan, Oakville will have $2.6 million in pooling costs returned this year. Mayor Burton said more is required. "We need way more than an end to GTA pooling and we'd prefer the GTA pooling was ending faster than over seven years, but the residents of Oakville need to know that we are working on this and we are making progress." CEO and President of Halton Healthcare Services, John Oliver, explained how a lack of funding is causing difficulties in the area of hospital care. "The new hospital is a Mayor Rob Burton superb, wonderful advancement for the community. It means we can get onto a proper acreage and we have a site big enough to grow with Oakville into the future, but we'll be opening it about five years too late," he said. "We'll be bringing our last bed inventory on next year and from there on you'll be in very tight quarters in the existing hospital." Oliver says the last major expansion at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital took place in the mid-90s to help the hospital deal with growth in Oakville up to Upper Middle Road. Funding to deal with growth since then has not been forthcoming and a lack of foresight in constructing the new hospital could lead to the same problem that exists in the old hospital. "We are sizing the hospital for the 2013 population, that's our current direction. We are asking right now for it to be sized for the 2018 population, so that when it opens we are not already jammed and too small and we're back into crisis," said Oliver. Obtaining operating dollars is another problem the Halton Healthcare Service faces on an annual basis. Oliver said that because the province has no strategy to effectively fund growing communities, it becomes necessary for the Halton Healthcare Service to fight with the province every year to convince them why additional funds are needed. "That means you can't plan forward, it's difficult to recruit staff, we lag in our expansion of services to the community," he said. Although the province has been generous in providing operating dollars of the last two years, this year no additional funds are available for Halton, said Oliver. "That's a significant issue for us." Adelina Urbanski, Commissioner of Social and Community Services for the Region of Halton, said the funding gap has also caused significant issues in the areas of mental health services and childcare. "The waiting lists are everywhere, there is no doubt about it. The most obvious and significant issue with respect to underfunding is the waiting lists," she said. "In Halton, because of the lack of funding, we're really only meeting 15 per cent of the need for subsidized child care." Urbanski says children in WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT? You're not alone with SureSlim® A proven, personalized, medical weight-loss system You've tried them all ­ diets, pills, shakes and calorie counting systems ­ without success. Finally help has arrived in the form of SureSlim's revolutionary approach to dramatic and ht-loss. SureSlim's corporate physician will od test results and we'll show you how, by ods, dramatic weight loss can be achieved key hormones that control your metabolism. m system, startling results can be realized calorie reduction, supplements or strenuous t of all, you don't have to go through this to meet with your trained weight loss A MODERN ARBORICULTURE AND TREE MAINTENANCE COMPANY "We treat the cause, not the symptom." Certified Tree Worker Arborists: need, who can't participate in these programs, are left unattended and are not brought into a nurturing learning environment. "This does and will effect our communities and how they function in the future. It does impact on how these kids attend school, whether they succeed or not, how far they go and whether they're going to be productive," said Urbanski. The funding shortage creates even bigger problems for those with mental health problems. "In the developmental services sector there is still a need for some kind of group residential care, and there is a chronic funding shortage related to that," said Urbanski. "So, what we've seen in Oakville and across the area is seniors still caring for their adult children. Those children, who are in their 50s, are completely dependent on their 82,83,84-year-old mom and dad. Those parents are getting very worried because they haven't been able to find a place for that child, and what's going to happen when they are no longer here." Rev. Peter Roebbelen, Pastor of Chartwell Baptist Church, also believes mental healthcare needs to be improved. "I have had too many parents, who have come into my pastoral council office and tell me about their teenagers and what they're going through in terms of depression, self harm, attempted suicide, bipolar disorder and they cannot get the help they need. They just can't," said Roebbelen. "If it's out there they can't navigate the system. I suspect it's not out there." Halton Regional Police Chief Gary Crowell argued the need for social services funding on the ground because these measures prevent future criminal activity. Quoting excepts from the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police website, Crowell made the point that social service funding and crime prevention are the same. "Canadians value safety in their communities and recognize that crime can flourish in communities where social and economic conditions present risk factors and where social development measures are not sustained," he said. "Investment in sustainable social development yields positive results. Without investment in prevention our communities will become more and more unsafe, placing increasing strain on our social infrastructure and public institutions." One reason young people may get involved in criminal activity in Oakville is because they have nothing else to do. An informal study conducted by Roebbelen found that the number of places for young people to legally hang around or participate in sporting activities are lacking. His study also found that the task of fixing all these problems is a daunting one. "There is no way we can do this by ourselves, and I think it is going to take a holistic integrated approach, many agencies coming together, being creative. 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