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iris vjis2 economist sunthe tribuneekelffi j growth funding on its way mpp but regions hospital officials remain skeptical about promises of more cash jennifer brown staff reporter york region hospitals are being asked to sit tight the money is on the way but that hasnt stopped local health officials from wondering why they were passed over last wednesday when health minister elizabeth witmer announced plans to invest 186 million in capital funding for toronto hospitals and another 75 million for emergency services across ontario we dont expect to get a cent of it said dan carriere the president of york county hospital in newmarket i cant see why our project was not recognized york countys emergency depart ment built to handle 40000 visits each year will process 57000 patients in the next 12 months our numbers are real carriere said in the last two years we have seen significant growth here if the ministry doesnt recognize the need here theres not much more we can do but close the hospital but york mackenzie mpp frank klees insists more money is ear marked for york region at york central hospital in richmond hill officials have made plans to close 17 beds by july 1 ive given dan carriere my assur ance our government will recognize their needs klees said adding an announcement is imminent i have asked dan to bear with us to the end of the month when there will be a clear indication of what is being done here carriere has said he will wait until june 30 before making any decisions about service cutbacks markhamstouffville hospital presi dent elizabeth woodbury has also said that in the shortterm the hospital can sustain services without having to make cuts but as growth continues in southeast york region woodbury fears her hos pital will soon be in the same position as yorks two other hospitals at york central hospital in richmond hill officials have made plans to close 17 beds july 1 after they received a letter from the province stating that hospitals cant assume growth funding will be provided for 199899 klees said york centrals decision to publicize the decision to close beds has only created unnecessary fear in the community i wouldnt have done what they did run it up the flag pole and say the worsecase scenario is happening said klees it is to no ones benefit to create unnecessary anxiety on the part of people who look at the hospital eeonommsun when they need it ifs not good leadership its not good public relations the real needs of the hospital will be met every iden tified need of that hospital will be met at the level they need however york central hopsital president frank lussing says words arent enough to sustain his hope this is not being contrived to delib erately mislead the public said lussing we have a 31million shortfall i dont think people would want us to spend money with no prospects of recovery down the road on monday lussing will present a plan to the ministry to recover the 31 million the hospital hoped it would have by now up until three days ago york central was being told it would have to manage within the limits of its current budget klees blames the confusion on the ministry which he says is sending out the wrong message i have said that statement is incon sistent of both the political will of our government and our intention to rec ognize growth he said it wouldnt be the first time correspondence from a bureaucracy would be inconsistent with the intended will of the govern ment my advice is not to overreact to statements made by the bureaucrats in the last two years hospitals have received growth finding in january this years delay has created budget deficits which continue to grow did you know this newspaper is a member of the ontario press council an independent organization that addresses reader com plaints about member papers the ontario press council 80 gould st toronto ont m5b2m7 suite 206 come join 0s as we celebrate our 25 year in business with a huge celebration sales event our 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