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to economist suntribune health care thursday sept 12 2002 hospital expansion plan on track health minister argues from page 1 but both minister tsubouchi and health minister tony clement seemed startled by the hospi tals crusade which also asks for support from area resi dents and businesses minister clement said he found the tone of the ad quite frankly shocking and defended his ministrys actions citing the fact legisla tion allowing the kind of publicprivate partnership the hospital is proposing was only passed in july ministry officials met with the hospital two weeks ago and the reporting i got back was that it was very pos itive minister clement said in an interview the hospital presented the proposal we asked a few questions and they were to come back with the answers i thought things were on track and theyre still on track as far as im concerned minister tsubouchi expressed similar feelings im surprised to hear they think its off the rails he said it may have been a disconnect between the hos pital and the health ministry weve been going back and forth on how to fit the plan within the regula tions of the capital funding model super build we have been trying to push this and i have spent a lot of time trying to get it resolved as soon as possible dr maclean said the hos pital has done everything its jim maclean hospital in critical position president says been asked to do and more we were asked to be cre ative and innovative and weve done that but there is a significant gap between what has been allocated and what we feel we need in fact the gap is tenfold the province has so far allocated 108 million the hos pital needs 108 mil lion he said incorrect assump tions about popula tion growth have also muddied the waters dr maclean said initially they used the wrong population numbers and under estimated the size of the project rapid growth and the aging distribution over the next five 1c 15 years is our biggest concern statistics highlighted in the ad are cause for concern never mind addressing future growth pointed out hospital spokesperson pam brodie the hospital which opened in 1990 was planned for a 1981 population of 77000 now there are more than 230000 residents in the area it was built to handle 1800 births a year last year staff delivered 2722 babies the diagnostic imaging department xrays ultrasounds ct scans was designed to provide 30700 exams a year last year it performed 108233 upon opening the hospital was able to do 1759 surgeries a year in 2001 more than 8000 took place ffeetthe t of your buckle up ifpr safety llpllfe tilts nktuge brought to you w onwminlty mrrtce of t0economtst t suntribune and the numbers com pared to the rest of the province are no better according to markham stouffville hospital figures ontario spends an average of 642 a year per person for hospital care in york region last year the province spent 326 per per son across ontario there are an aver age of 1692 acute care beds per 100000 popula tion but in markham stouffville that average is 587 per 100000 people even if we got approval today it would be four years before wed be ready to go ms brodie said if we dont get moving people in this community are going to have trouble with their health care the hospitals expansion proposal in partnership with the region of york and other as yet unnamed pri vate sector partners includes a integrated long- term complex care facility which will free up acute care david tsubouchi markham mpp surprised by newspaper ad beds in the existing hospital a new ambulatory care and wellness centre will house a freestanding surgical centre ambulatory and out patient clinics and alterna tive therapy providers those new facilities will allow the expansion of the diagnostic imaging and emergency departments and provide space for a new sixbed cardiac care unit in the existing building both ministers clement and tsubouchi said the pro posal is a good one and they support it but delivering funding takes time id love things to proceed licketysplit but its complex we have put it on the hori zon we know the needs of the community that its a growth area minister clement said the takehome message i want to give to your readers is this plan is on track while he would not commit to a firm time line he said ill be second hap piest person if it happens within the next six months dr maclean being the first i will not do anything to make it longer than six months i sjwnjeoutww play a fabulous entertainment prize package were kicking off single ticket sales at markham theatre over 37 shows featured in our 20022003 professional entertainment season federal electoral boundaries commission for federal irepresentatidn ontario canadas federal electoral boundaries are changing contest baixot name address town postal code telephone day evening d please send a copy of the markham theatre season brochure check here contest is open to all canadian residents one entry per family no reproductions will be accepted prizes must be accepted as awarded winners will be notified by phone contest closes september 21 2002 please drop off or mail ballots to markham economist sun 9 heritage road markham on l3p 1m3 ballots become the property of the markham economist sun and markham theatre two prize packages to be awarded brought to you by markham economist sun markham 4jj theatre for performimgart find everything you need to know about the process at wwwelectiorisca just click on federal representation 2004 far mare information you can also contact 4 the federal electoral boundaries commission for ontario at 416 3062207 or tollfree at 1 866 2371375 m elections canada tollfree at 1 800 4636868 or m tty 1 800 3618935 elections canada