Halton Healthcare Services' request for a $200 million contribution is one of the most significant financial commitments the town will ever make. Your property tax dollars will be used to help fund the hospital, and Council wants to hear your opinions and comments. The survey results will be presented to Council in March.
Who owns the new hospital?
The new Oakville hospital, like Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital (OTMH), will be publicly owned and controlled. Halton Healthcare Services, which runs OTMH, will run this hospital.
Who gives final authorization for the hospital to be built?
The provincial government gives the final authorization. In 2005 it approved Halton Healthcare Services' proposal for a new hospital to be built in Oakville to replace OTMH.
Doesn't the province pay for new hospitals?
The Province of Ontario will cover 90 per cent of eligible construction costs for the new hospital. HHS is responsiblefor the remaining 10 per cent, as well as 100 per cent ofother costs including all hospital furnishings and medical equipment, and construction costs for parking, cafeteria, retail and expansion space. This is called the local share.
Shouldn't residents from other municipalities in Halton Region contribute to the local share costs for the hospital if they are going to use it?
Most hospitals draw patients from beyond their local municipality. For example, Oakville residents visit hospitals in Mississauga and Toronto even though we have not contributed to the local share costs for those hospitals. The Oakville Hospital Foundation's capital campaign does solicit donations from hospital users living outside Oakville.
What will happen to the current hospital?
Halton Healthcare Services has committed to transferring the property to the town in response to the town's local share commitment. The existing OTMH hospital and property will be the subject of a town-initiated community visioning exercise to define the site's specific development opportunities in accordance with the policies set out in the Livable Oakville Plan.
What have other municipalities paid for their hospitals?
Other Ontario municipalities have contributed anywhere from $625,000 (City of Barrie) to $80 million (City of Vaughan) for new hospitals in their communities, based on data collected by the province in 2008. However, a true comparison would have to take into account per capita contributions over the lifetime of the financing periods, as well as the sizes of the facilities being built and the services and capacities they offer. Many recent projects in other communities funded under the province's alternative financing and procurement (AFP) model have been additions, rather than completely new hospitals.
How does the funding model work?
Financing for the new hospital will follow the provincial government's Alternative Financing and Procurement Model (AFP). Under this new model of financing, the private sector is responsible for the design, construction, financing and maintenance of the project. Halton Healthcare Services will then pay back those costs over a 30-year term, similar to the way you'd pay down a mortgage. The hospital will remain publicly owned, publicly controlled and publicly accountable. For more information about AFP projects, please visit Infrastructure Ontario's website at http://www.infrastructureontario.ca/
What are the financial controls in place to manage costs of the hospital?
To ensure appropriate public control and ownership, Infrastructure Ontario uses alternative financing and procurement to rebuild infrastructure on time and on budget. Infrastructure Ontario is a Crown corporation dedicated to the renewal of the province's hospitals, courthouses and other essential public assets.
What is the total amount of the local share costs for this hospital?
HHS estimates the local share costs will total $530 million.
Does the town have to contribute to the local share costs?
HHS must demonstrate that it can pay all of the costs of the local share for the proposed hospital before tendering the project for construction. The Oakville Hospital Foundation launched a capital campaign to raise $60 million toward the local share, and HHS expects to raise $270 million through various hospital revenues. HHS has asked the town to pay the remaining $200 million.
Will this contribution affect the town's ability to fund other infrastructure projects?
Any money spent on the new hospital reduces the amount that is available for other local infrastructure projects and facilities. It is too early to identify what, if any, effect this might have on future projects. All projects in the town's ten-year capital forecast are currently funded.
What will it mean for my property taxes?
The annual costs will depend on the financing model chosen. One scenario developed by the town shows the tax impact per $100,000 of assessment would begin in 2015 at $15 per year, increasing to $35 per year over 30 years.
How will the cost per $100,000 of assessment increase over the 35 years?
The specific rate of repayment of the borrowed $200 million will not be determined until the final costs are confirmed in 2011. The town will consult with the public again next year once these final costings are available.
How did the town calculate the rate of repayment in the example provided in the brochure?
The example provided was just one illustration of how the town might repay a loan of $200 million. The town based that example on a borrowing cost of five per cent and used current growth forecasts to calculate assessment growth over 35 years.
Won't the survey results be skewed if people complete both the mail and online surveys?
We're undertaking a telephone, mail, and online survey as well as hosting a public meeting to reach out to as many residents as possible. The results of each survey, including their statistical validity, will be presented to Council in March.
Who will be contacted for the telephone survey?
All residents are eligible to be contacted for the survey. The town has asked Pollara Strategic Insights to conduct a telephone survey by randomly selecting residents from public telephone records and inviting them to participate, so we do not know who will be contacted. The final survey results will be based on a randomly-selected, representative sample of 600 completed survey interviews, holding a minimal margin of error of +/- 4 per cent 19 times out of 20.
Why are there so many single patient rooms?
The new Oakville Hospital will have 80% single patient rooms on the medical surgical floors. This new standard of care is a provincial guideline introduced to ensure maximal patient safety and security given the increasing incidence of hospital acquired infections in hospitals.
What if I don't have insurance to pay for a private room? Will I be turned away?
Hospitals are prohibited from turning away patients based on their ability to pay. Under Canadian legislation (Public Hospital Act and the Canada Health Act) the only requirement for admission to a hospital is an admitting order from the patient's physician. The first determining factor as to which type of room a patient is assigned (single or ward) is the clinical condition of the patient as assessed by the admitting physician independent of any ability to pay considerations. Given that the decision to admit a patient is made by the patient's physician, this means that patients will more likely be cared for in a single patient room regardless of their ability to pay.
For more information about the proposed new hospital, please visit their website.
