www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday August 31, 2007 - 9 Current hospital funding formula outdated A healthcare alliance has some advice to the province on hospital funding. The GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance is calling on the Ontario government to establish a task force that would advise how the Province can move to a population-needs-based approach to hospital care funding. The recommendation is one of 10 contained in a discussion paper released last week by the alliance, which represents community hospitals serving more than three million people in Durham, Halton, Peel and York regions, and Dufferin County. "We prepared this paper to help Ontario develop an equitable, transparent and accountable approach to funding hospital care," said Anne McGuire, chair of the GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance, in a news release. "I think that everyone understands that Ontario's current approach to funding hospital services is inequitable and based on the demographics and hospital capacities from years ago. It does not take into account the differing health care needs of Ontarians in different communities and does not promote healthcare close to home." According to a November "I think that everyone understands that Ontario's current approach to funding hospital services is inequitable and based on the demographics and hospital capacities from years ago." Anne McGuire, chair GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance 2006 report developed for the Ontario Hospital Association, hospital funding in Ontario is effectively allocated on an across-the-board basis. The report noted that hospital operating funding pressures resulting from population growth in fast-growing GTA/905 regions as well as Dufferin County, Kitchener-Waterloo, Simcoe and Ottawa-Carlton are not being taken into account by provincial funding practices. Population-needs-based funding formulas are in place in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, and are also used in many countries such as the United Kingdom and Sweden, noted McGuire. "As Ontario implements its version of health system regionalization, it should look to other provinces that regionalized years ago and note that they quickly developed a populationneeds-based approach to distributing provincial health-care funding," she said. "A population-needs-based approach takes into consideration not only the number of people served by a hospital, but also other factors such as the age, gender make-up, socio-economic status, and that small northern and rural communities have higher costs to providing care." Other recommendations in the alliance's discussion paper include implementing a `noloss' protection for hospitals, ensuring that all Ontario hospitals receive at least the same amount of money as they did on March 30, 2007. "We appreciate that the provincial government has started to recognize the underfunding of hospitals in highgrowth communities," McGuire said, referring to an additional $30 million in growth funding for hospitals in high-growth areas last year. "But we need to go beyond growth funding that the GTA/905 and other high-growth hospitals will need for several years. To fix the problem that created the funding inequities in the first place, Ontario needs to allocate new hospital funding so that it actually reflects the demographics of today and tomorrow rather than the demographics from a decade ago." For information on the discussion paper, visit www.gta- 905health.com. SPELLING GRAMMAR READING WRITING MATH FRENCH FALL CORE PROGRAMS STUDY SKILLS BETTER GRADES ARE JUST A FALL AWAY. A FALL TO REMEMBER BETTER GRADES IN THE FALL! Fall is the ideal time to catch-up or get ahead for the next grade at Oxford Learning. First, we pinpoint how your child learns. Then, we create an individualized program that goes beyond tutoring to teach your child to learn and study more effectively. For better grades, motivation and confidence this fall, keep your child's mind sharp with just a few hours each week at Oxford Learning. Contact us today for complete details. Little Reader Fall Registration NOW OPEN Maple Grove Village 511 Maple Grove Dr. Suite 2, Oakville (905) 849-4027 1131 Nottinghill Gate, Oakville (905) 469-1929 380 Dundas St. E. Oakville (905) 257-1207 Voted Best Learning Centre www.oxfordlearning.com Emergency Tent Sale Flyer in today's paper! (Only in selected areas.) See in store for complete details. Look for our