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Hospital pricetag rises to $900-M
Thursday May 24 2007
- Brampton Guardian
William Osler Health Centre's top official has confirmed Brampton Civic Hospital will cost about $900 million, more than doubling the community's obligation.
On Tuesday, WOHC president and CEO Bob Richards revealed the number during a speech to employees of Brampton-based Par-Pak Ltd.
He was one of several WOHC officials on hand to thank the plastic container manufacturer, and its 430 workers, for committing $150,000 to the construction of BCH.
In a follow up interview, Richards said the latest price tag for the new 1.2 million sq. ft. facility includes building and furnishing costs.
"I am confirming in round numbers that this is the house with all the furniture in it," Richards said.
Prior to Tuesday's event, the only solid figures touted were those associated with the actual structure and adjacent aboveground garage, pegged between $500 and $550 million.
The most recent tally reflects things like new equipment, information technology and transition and installation costs.
Breaking the numbers down, the medical equipment and installation amounts to $227 million, computers and telephones $46 million and project development and transition equals $64 million.
"Its important to remember that in building a hospital roughly twice the size of the current one, a significant amount of new equipment and IT will need to be purchased," said David Spencer, a spokesperson for Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman. "These costs are always considered in addition to the construction of the hospital itself."
But as the price for the hospital is set at a higher rate, so too is the community's 30 per cent share of the project.
To date, William Osler Health Centre Foundation has managed to collect $87 million of the $120 million 'Here for you...caring for you' community campaign.
Anne Randell, WOHCF President and CEO, said the current campaign was always intended to be the first phase of a much larger, multi-year fundraising drive. Once the $120 million goal is realized, Randell said the board of directors could either decide to continue with the current campaign or wrap it up and try another approach.
As it stands now, the community's portion of the hospital is roughly $270 million.
"It's not widely known that the government of Ontario does not totally fund hospitals," Richards told Par-Pak staff. "They don't ask, they actually demand that the community makes up 30 per cent of the cost of a hospital. And that hospital that is on Bramalea Road and Bovaird, when it's full with all of the equipment, is probably going to cost about $900 million. So you can do the math. It's a very large community share we need to raise to make it happen."
But what happens if the community can't pay its share?
Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell told The Guardian in January that WOHC officials had approached her about the idea of adding the public's share on the tax base in the event the fundraising drive fell short.
Fennell stressed council would not entertain a special levy on the tax bill. The city is under no obligation to come up with a fundraising solution for BCH.
But adding a special tax to help pay off a hospital is happening in other communities across Ontario.
For instance, St. Catharines city council committed $31.2 million to the building of a new hospital last week.
To do that, they've decided to establish a separate tax levy for about $42.65 per household, beginning in 2008 and ending in 2037. By then the actual amount people will pay is more than double.
Earlier this year, The Guardian asked Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty whether the government would lend a hand in the event residents couldn't pay.
McGuinty stated he didn't want to focus on the negative.
"If the community finds it a real challenge to meet their financial responsibility with respect to the new hospital then we should talk to see what we can do to help one another," McGuinty said. "We've got to get the hospital built. The issue is not whether it's built, it's how we'll build it and how we make sure we'll secure the necessary funds to get the job done."
Richards is slated to appear before city councillors next week to present the latest figure.
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