Hospital expansion to be completed late in 2016 or 2017. Make a Doctor’s appointment today for 2017

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON September 13, 2011 – They were all smiles – there was finally much more in the way of confidence on the part of Council – and now the city – that the expansion to the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital is really, really going to happen. Hospital CEO Eric Vanderwall was there to tell Council that the hospital expansion would be complete in six years and open late in 2016 or early 2017. And oh, he almost asked, could we have the first payment on that $60 million you agreed to provide.

When the hospital held a little mini gala sort of event early in August, with a tent outdoors and waiters walking through the crowd – and it was a crowd – serving hors d’oeuvres, we were all waiting for a Minister from the government to arrive and make it more official – and tell us that the hospital expansion was really going to be funded.

Architects rendering of what the hospital will look like after the expansion has been completed. Plans are for an opening in late 2016 or early 2017

But the Minister didn’t make it – we were told that she got tied up in QEW traffic – poetic justice there for sure. Ted McMeekin, the man who lost his Cabinet seat to Sophia Aggelonitis, the Minister who didn’t make it to the meeting, handled the event and stretched it out as long as he could – and enjoyed every minute of his time holding the microphone.

But we finally all went home not exactly sure what had happened. Something was going on but no one in Burlington knew what the bureaucrats were up to. Well today we know – they were doing all the paper work and the background stuff; the scheduling and making the need for funds fit in with what the province will have in their piggy bank when it comes time to write cheques.

And the province won’t be writing cheques anytime soon. But Erik Vanderwall has a letter from the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, Deb Matthews, saying that the province has us in the system and we are now part of the flow of funds out from them and in to us.

When Vanderwall was giving all this good news to your city council Mayor Goldring had the cheek to ask if he could perhaps see a copy of that letter. Eric, who really knows how to handle people, demurred and said while he had no problem with giving the Mayor a copy of the funding letter he didn’t think it was his place. Now the good Eric didn’t offer to ask the Minister if she would mind if he gave a copy to the city – nope, he suggested the Mayor contact the Minister and ask for a copy.

Golly gee – Burlington has been asked to put up $60 million of the “hundreds of millions” it is going to cost to do the expansion – you think the least they could do is get the city a copy of the letter that says the cheques will be in the mail.

Turns out that the money to pay for all the early stage work is going to come from Burlington. Vanderwall gave the city the schedule the hospital needs to get this project going.

Here is the schedule:

2011/12    $7.5 million

2012/13    $7.5 million

2013/14    $7.5 million

2014/15    $7.5 million

2015/16    $15 million

$2016/17    $15 million

for a total of $60 million which the city has committed itself to and already has a large chunk of the first payment in the bank.

The hospital wants that money pronto so they can get on with building a parking garage which will free up the land the expansion is going to be built on.

So Burlington is going to carry the can and pay the bills through to about 2014 (which is when this council is going to come to you to get re-elected).

Hospital CEO Eric Vanderwall entertained the crowd for as long as he could last August but even he could only do so much. The Minister with the Announcement didn’t make it to the party so we all went home

Vanderwall told council that the hospital will be completed in six years and that the Hospital Foundation has committed to meeting the city contribution of $60 million on a dollar for dollar basis. We were also advised that while nothing public could be said they had about $7 million already committed.

The hospital foundation has its Board of Directors in place. There is a Campaign Cabinet and an Ambassador Council in place to get the word out to the community and drum up those dollars. They have a lot of raffle tickets to sell.

Burlington has been sadly served by its hospital in the not too recent past. There were c.Difficile deaths that rattled the community and destroyed a lot of the confidence a public should have in its hospital. Eric Vanderwall deserves credit for re-building the level of medical service delivered by the hospital and spearheading the drive to get the funding needed from the province – which is why we pay him the big bucks.

But he could have gotten the Mayor a copy of that letter.

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