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io economist suntribune saturday sept 7 2002 a message from markham stouffville hospital for us to talk ands it dear friends the staff physicians and volunteers of markham stouffville hospital are proud to provide you with quality health care were also excited about the future as we move forward with our plans for a new and innovative health campus that will include a variety of services to meet the needs of our chang ing and growing community we know this is what we need to do to continue to serve you well and thats why we need to talk its been a little over 12 years since markham stouffville hospital opened its doors to the community back in 1981 when planning first began for a community hospital markhamstouffville had more than 77000 residents by 2001 there were more than 230000 people were becoming very concerned about our ability to provide accessible quality health care especially when we review the facts and see their impact on average the province spends 642 for every person for hospital care in york region only 326 was spent for every person in 2001 half the provin cial average in ontario on average there are 1692 acute care beds per 100000 population in markham stouffville there are only 587 acute care beds per 100000 and while we have earned a reputation for our innovation costeffectiveness and high quality care despite a very challenging healthcare environment we need the province to help we cant continue the way things are we have a plan to expand the hospital for the past three jim maclean deepak shukla years weve been asking the province to help us achieve our dream of a new fullservice health care campus and while markham mpp david tsubouchi has provided support and leadership to our endeavour government officials at the ministry of health and long- term care have not supported us no approvals no funding commitments no progress while it is not unusual for years to pass from the time a hospital expansion is proposed to the time it is completed were feeling pressed it will be at least four years before our construction would be complete if we were to receive approval now we want you to know were working hard to persuade the province to approve our innovative health care plans and to commit appropriate funding to make it happen were working for you for your health for the health of your family we wont give up and well keep you posted on our progress as always were here for you if you have questions or concerns about the future of health care please watch for further information on our growth plans we may need to call on you for support deepak shukla chairperson markham stouffville hospital board dr jim maclean president chief executive officer your hospital your health care your time please help the highlights of our plan expanded emergency department diagnostic imaging facilities and additional space for outpatient clinics and inpatient beds a dedicated building for seniors services with staff focused on meeting the specific needs of these citizens with inpatient outreach and day programs a health and wellness centre the first of its kind in ontario which includes ambulatory and outpa tient clinics a surgicentre a wellnessleaming cen tre public and private clinics alternative therapy providers medical offices and other healthrelated retail services a communityfocused health care campus through partnerships with york region the private sector and others for informatjon on our growth plans please visit our website at wwwmshonca