Line these ducks up and see if you see what I see. This could be painful.

By Pepper Parr

BURLINGTON, ON  December 16, 2011 –  The good folks at Burlington’s Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital tells us that the province is in for the money needed to do a major upgrade to the place – which is badly needed.  The hospital board reports that they have a memo from the provincial government – AND that the hospital’s name is on an infrastructure list of communities that are going to get funding.

With good news apparently on the way the hospital goes out and rents a nice big white tent and everyone who is anybody in town shows up for THE announcement.

But the Minister, doesn’t show up.  We are told her car got stuck in traffic.  A substitute Minister is on hand to give, what is at best an embarrassing situation, the spin it needs.  Ted McMeekin talks about the great care he got at the hospital when he needed help.  Fair enough.

Burlington's best wait on a sunny afternoon for a provincial government Minister to arrive with a "good news" announcement - She fails to show - an ominous sign for the city.

The Minister that didn’t make it to the meeting lost her seat in the election and the guy that told us about the great care he got makes it back into Cabinet.  Such are the vagaries of provincial politics.

That the province was in the middle of a provincial election and the Liberals thinking they just might be able to win Burlington this time out, throw everything they have into the Burlington campaign.  Almost daily press conferences, photo ops, a visit to the city by the Premier – all for not.  The solid Liberal candidate got beaten soundly by the Progressive Conservative candidate who had no political experience nor was she active in the community before she was elected. The riding hasn’t gone Liberal since the early 40’s.

Then Liberal candidate and former hospital board member Karmel Sakran chats with Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital CEO Eric Vandewall the day a provincial government Minister failed to show up for a "good news" announcement.

The Liberal candidate, who was at one point the vice chair of the hospital board swears that this is going to happen – the hospital is going to be funded.  The only thing we didn’t hear was someone swearing on a stack of bibles that it would happen.

City Council has been told they will have to come up with a significant chunk of the millions it is going to cost to refurbish the hospital and they put in motion the steps needed to impose a tax levy.  The city manages to put $20 million plus into a reserve fund.

Hospital Foundation Board gets picture taken as they gear up to raise $60 million from within the community.

The hospital is grateful and tells the city they are going to match – dollar for dollar – what the city contributes.  Combined the community is committed to come up with $120 million.  It must be noted however that while the city has $20 million plus in a reserve fund collecting interest the hospital,s foundation hasn’t announced a dime of fund raising.  They did release a nice picture of themselves though.

Then the hospital asks if the city might send along some of those dollars to build a parking garage that is needed.  A PARKING GARAGE the citizens ask – we wanted a hospital.

Hospital spin doctors explain that a parking garage has to be built so that there is a place for the cars to be put so that the land the cars are now parking on can be dug up and used for the magnificent expansion that is going to come.  We know the hospital is going to be refurbished because the province promised us that.  Yeah right.   Oh, and there is a pretty picture to show what the new building will look like.  It gets better.

If it ever gets built - this is what the architects expect it to look like. Don't think there will be any big bets placed on this happening by the announced date.

The city and the hospital start talking about an agreement as to when and how and under what circumstances the money Burlington city has raised will be passed along to the hospital.  This is one of those occasions when the city’s legal department is being closed mouth and rightly so.

There are many, including Councillor Paul Sharman who feel the city could get “screwed” by the province and he doesn’t for a second trust them.  He wants an agreement with the province “in our back pocket” – then money can flow.  Sharman points out that the province has both a budget shortfall and some very significant debt that is going to have to be paid down and he doesn’t believe the province is going to have any money for an upgrade to the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital.

Councillor Marianne Meed Ward believes the province will come through with the money.  Meed Ward sat on the hospital board as a citizen before she was elected to council and has in the past worked as a communications advisor to the hospital during the very tough Cdifficile days when more than 80 people lost their lives.

The day after Sharman said he wanted to see an agreement between the city and the province in place before he would go along with the money the city now has in the bank going to the hospital – guess what? The financial press reports that an influential credit rating agency, Moody’s Investors Service had turned “negative” on the province.  They warned that they might have to lower the province’s credit rating if it “doesn’t take serious steps in the next budget to deal with the multi-million dollar deficit.”  Hey isn’t that the budget that has the money for our hospital refurbishment in it?

The province has a $16 billion deficit and an economy that is on the sluggish side which means it is going to take longer than expected to reduce that deficit.

Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital is a little like the provinces economy: a little the worse for wear and tear and in need of a fix up. Problem is the economy has to get much better before the hospital refurbishment can go forward,

The problems with the American economy are holding Ontario’s economy back and the problems in Europe, which almost defy understanding, aren’t helping either.  With a credit rating change apparently in the works – unless the budget shows some serious intention at restraint – it will be more expensive to borrow.  And, if the financial press is to be believed, foolish to do so as well.

So now that the ducks are all lined up – what do you think is going to happen?  Grab your ankles and hold on tight.  This is going to hurt.

All however is not lost.  There is an opportunity for this city to do something really different; something that meets the real needs of the city and not the desires of the medical community.  Mayor Rick Goldring recently invited a highly regarded expert on public health policy, Andre Picard,  who suggested that smaller community hospitals were the best tool to meet the medical needs of the aging population Burlington has to deal with.

For some reason – both your city council and the people who run the medical services in this city want a big expensive hospital that the province can’t afford.  We seem to be stuck on a building we perhaps don’t need.  Hamilton has all the medical capacity we need and Oakville is getting a really large medical complex.  I’ll take the ambulance ride to Hamilton or Oakville if you don’t mind.

 

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