In this week's Halton Compass, I did a story on Ted Chudleigh's nomination as the Progressive Conservative (PC) candidate in next year's provincial election. In town for the meeting, and events related to the ongoing fight against the HST was PC Leader Tim Hudak. Following the formal part of the meeting, my colleague from the Champion and I were offered time with the leader... we're reporters and it's not everyday we're offered time with the leader of the opposition, and someone who could potentially be the next Premier of Ontario. So we took it, and my colleauge's article is also in this week's Champion. He chose to focus on the hospital, and the local funding' portion.
But here's where we differ. I read the situation in a completely different manner. The way I read it was here was a man who is probably 1 year out from fighting a provincial election. Hudak wants to make frontline healthcare a priority, but admits he needs a better business environment if the province is to continue its financial recovery. And on some level I think he realizes financially the needed financial committment may not be possible. He wants to disband the LHINS (Local Health Integrated Network) but doesn't know what if anything to replace them with.
Call me an eternal optimist, but I think we should take a wait-and see approach before we discount the DC idea. It's a long time between now and next October.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Milton District Hospital: Devil's Advocate
As some of you know I've been spending time lately in the role of devil's advocate asking the question: What if the Province says "No" to Milton's hospital expansion? Given the extremely unpopular nature of the question I've had varying degrees of success in actually getting answers as you can imagine.
Most say "No" isn't an option; MPP Ted Chudleigh says he can't conceive of a case where Milton wouldn't be near the top of the priority list. One councillor backs him up saying the province can't say no. The same councillor also says we're not even on the desired priority list. So my question still stands, what if the province says no" to Hospital expansion?.
The Case for a hospital: Milton, a community with a population of around 75 thousand by now is being served by a hospital built to serve 35,000. The facilities there have according to a LHIN report reached the end of their working lives- so if there is room for expansion in existing facilities, chances are it would cost much less to build a new one, than to update the technology. And let's say we've raised our part of the required funds making our request even harder to say no to. That's a pretty powerful case- and when put this way, with the addition of the growth reports it could make a new expanded hospital for Milton a near certainty.
But it's not. And here I come to the case against it. The case against it boils down to money- it does make the world go around. And right now there isn't enough of it, making for some interesting, if controversial decisions. From a provincial perspective, I'm looking at Milton, and I'm looking at Oakville and I'm thinking a hospital with state-of-the art techonlogy is being built at Dundas and 3rd line- new facilities at Milton aren't exactly critical, despite what town council says.
Another scenario under the "no" perspective is the possibility there will be a new provincial government next year under the Progressive Conservatives. Chudleigh says he'd fight for funding for this project, and I believe him. But the possibility still exists a Progressive Conservative government could get elected, and then realize the books are in much worse shape than they've been briefed. And then they'll have to make cutbacks.
The case for a hospital is a strong one- an expanded population, and out-of-date facilities. We should go for the new hospital, but I also think we have to consider the question: "what if the province says no?"
Most say "No" isn't an option; MPP Ted Chudleigh says he can't conceive of a case where Milton wouldn't be near the top of the priority list. One councillor backs him up saying the province can't say no. The same councillor also says we're not even on the desired priority list. So my question still stands, what if the province says no" to Hospital expansion?.
The Case for a hospital: Milton, a community with a population of around 75 thousand by now is being served by a hospital built to serve 35,000. The facilities there have according to a LHIN report reached the end of their working lives- so if there is room for expansion in existing facilities, chances are it would cost much less to build a new one, than to update the technology. And let's say we've raised our part of the required funds making our request even harder to say no to. That's a pretty powerful case- and when put this way, with the addition of the growth reports it could make a new expanded hospital for Milton a near certainty.
But it's not. And here I come to the case against it. The case against it boils down to money- it does make the world go around. And right now there isn't enough of it, making for some interesting, if controversial decisions. From a provincial perspective, I'm looking at Milton, and I'm looking at Oakville and I'm thinking a hospital with state-of-the art techonlogy is being built at Dundas and 3rd line- new facilities at Milton aren't exactly critical, despite what town council says.
Another scenario under the "no" perspective is the possibility there will be a new provincial government next year under the Progressive Conservatives. Chudleigh says he'd fight for funding for this project, and I believe him. But the possibility still exists a Progressive Conservative government could get elected, and then realize the books are in much worse shape than they've been briefed. And then they'll have to make cutbacks.
The case for a hospital is a strong one- an expanded population, and out-of-date facilities. We should go for the new hospital, but I also think we have to consider the question: "what if the province says no?"
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