For further information contact: Tariq Asmi, Executive Director, GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance Phone: 416-205-1331 E-mail: tariq.asmi@gtahealthcare.com

PLACES FOR CARE: Towards a Health Care Strategy for Ontario’s High Growth Regions

 ONTARIO’S HIGH-GROWTH REGIONS

The four regions of the GTA/905 – Durham, Halton, Peel and York are among the fastest growing regions in Ontario and North America.  Since 1996 they have welcomed 106,000 residents each and every year.  This is like residents from the City of Kingston moving into the GTA/905 each and every year.  Population growth in the GTA/905 represents half the annual population growth of Ontario.  GTA/905 residents are aging at twice the provincial rate.  The GTA/905 is quickly becoming more culturally and socio-economically diverse.

 TOWARDS A HEALTH CARE STRATEGY FOR ONTARIO’S HIGH GROWTH REGIONS

Places for Care is about:

В·        Developing a long-term strategy for improving local access to hospital and other health care services for residents in the four GTA/905 regions of Halton, Peel, Durham and York.

В·        Offering recommendations to build complete communities envisioned in Places to Grow, Ontario’s 30 year growth plan, and,

В·        Preventing the gap in per capita funding for GTA/905 residents’ hospital care from continuing to grow as it has since 2003.

 Recommendations in Places for Care: Towards a Health Care Strategy for Ontario’s High Growth Regions include:

1.      Building Hospital Capacity in High Growth Regions

• Re-instating Development Charges for the construction of hospitals so municipalities can further support local hospital expansions and redevelopment
• Approve capital re-development projects in Ajax, Markham, Milton and Burlington
• Plan for health care facilities in Whitby and Vaughan
• Approve minor hospital renovations that can immediately improve access to hospital services
• Better plan for population growth that will initiate planning for hospital development once the population growth crosses a threshold
• Fast-track hospital expansion projects where possible.

 2.      Funding Hospital Services on the Basis of Population

• Develop a hospital funding formula that is population based.
• Create a growth funding envelope for high growth regions until a new population based funding formula is implemented
• Create a separate Multi-Site funding envelope to pay for additional costs of operating multi-sites and maintaining services at these sites
• Create a separate training and teaching funding envelope
• Create a single provincial rate for funding hospital services

3.      Improving Local Access to the Fullest Range of Hospital Services

• Ensure that hospitals in the GTA/905 are able to offer 100 per cent of hospital-based primary care, 100 per cent of secondary care, and 85 per cent of tertiary care services to their residents.

4.      Increasing the Supply and Improving the Distribution of Health Care Professionals

• Encourage GTA/905 hospitals to become “university affiliated”
• Further decentralize the training of healthcare professionals
• Offer hospitals involved in training “alternate funding plans” for health care professionals to support their teaching and training responsibilities

5.      Ensuring Local Access to a Full Range of Health Care Services

• Growth Funding for all health care services, such as Community Care Access Centres (CCACs) and Community Mental Health

6.      Ensuring that Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) receive Population Based Funding

7.      Reducing Wait Times by Investing in the GTA/905

• Ensure hospitals receive funding equivalent to the number of procedures they are performing.
• Establish high volume regional centre in the GTA/905

8.      Meeting the needs of the GTA/905’s increasingly culturally diverse and socio-economically disadvantaged populations.

FAIR FUNDING FOR GTA/905 RESIDENTS’ HEALTH CARE SERVICES

The pace of funding for hospital care has not kept up with the population growth in the GTA/905 and other high growth regions of the province.  In 2005, residents in the four Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) that encompass the GTA/905 received on average $164 less per person for hospital funding than the rest of Ontario.  This is an increase in the per capita funding gap of $146 per GTA/905 resident since 2003.

 The increase since 2003 in the per capita funding gap for GTA/905 residents hospital care means that the annual funding gap for hospital services has increased from $540 million in 2003 to $665 million in 2005 – a 23 per cent increase.   

GTA/905 regions are the four lowest funded in the province in terms of per capita funding for Community Care services, resulting in a $256 million funding gap for Community Care Access Centres (CCACs).

 GTA/905 residents are some of the lowest funded regions for Community Mental Health services.

 In order to help the Government of Ontario implement its Places to Grow strategy, the GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance is offering recommendations towards developing a plan to improve access to health care services in the GTA/905.  These solutions will allow the government to take advantage of low cost hospitals, help address the growing gap in per capita funding for GTA/905 residents’ hospital services and more importantly will allow residents to receive care close to home.

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 that represent more than 25 per cent of Ontario's population.  The GTA/905 area is the fastest growing region in Ontario, increasing by more than 100,000 new residents annually and comprising more than 50 per cent 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.