Hospitals Are Not Brick & Mortar

They are people. They are the trained professionals ranging from doctors and nurses to the support staff; lab technicians, clerical and cleaning staff, the MRI operators, etc. etc. and contrary to what smithermun and mcginty would have you believe they have not fulfilled their promises of increasing the staffing levels in the necessary disciplines.

Community rails at new hospital
Dec. 5

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Ontarians expect to be treated in state-of-the-art hospitals, and the province's plan to expand and build hospitals – like the new Brampton Civic Hospital – is central to ensuring that they are. To suggest that the quality of patient care at the new Brampton hospital has been impacted by the way in which the construction has been financed is neither factual nor responsible.

We strongly support the use of innovative hospital financing models like Alternative Financing and Procurement (AFP) for two reasons.

First, there is an urgent need to modernize Ontario's hospital facilities. Ontario's hospitals are, on average, 43 years old. By harnessing the "design-build" expertise of the private sector, AFPs make it possible for needed hospital renewal projects to move ahead quickly.

Second, there is the cost factor. A 2003 report estimated the cost of modernizing Ontario's hospitals to be $8 billion. This is obviously more than the government – any government – can afford. AFPs and other financing models, such as bond issues, allow hospitals to leverage private-sector financing and proceed with building the modern facilities their patients deserve.

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Ontario Hospital Association, Toronto Hilary Short, President and CEO,