Oakville Ontario News, Articles and Reviews

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Oakville Town Council may ask the Province to extend the deadline for a decision on Oakville’s $200 million funding contribution for the new hospital. On March 1st, Town staff will report to Council on the results of the public consultation process.

I am really concerned that Council and staff can’t even answer the public’s questions about the costs because final costs haven’t yet been determined. That is a serious flaw in the province’s funding process.
- Oakville Mayor Rob Burton

UPDATE: The decision has been postponed until April 19, 2010.

UPDATE 2: Please visit the Oakville.com homepage and participate in our Poll where where we ask: “Should the proceeds from the Blink sale be put towards the new hospital?”

Decision

In our recent interview with Tom Adams, we asked him what are Council’s options for the March 1st decision:

Council could opt to proceed immediately with a decision of Yes or No. If the answer is No, there’s other options that Council might consider which is asking for additional information in terms of what the options are for funding.
- Councillor Tom Adams

We asked John Oliver to explain the Oakville hospital local share plan:

Oakville has been given the rare opportunity of building a new hospital from the ground up. In planning for this once-in-a-lifetime project, we have drawn upon the experience of our patients, their families, community members, physicians, volunteers, our staff and our donors. Designed with their valuable input, the New Oakville Hospital will be a state-of-the-art facility designed to meet the needs of our community today and into the future.
- John Oliver, Halton Healthcare Services President & CEO

Cost

Halton Healthcare Services has asked the town of Oakville to contribute $200 million dollars to this project beginning in 2015. The Town will need to borrow money to fund its contribution, which can be financed over 30 years. The total amount paid could be more than $200 million because of interest costs – just like a mortgage.

The tax impact per $100,000 of assessment begins in 2015 at $15 per year, increasing to $35 per year over 30 years

In an extensive Q&A with Mayor Rob Burton, he goes into more detail of the impact of this decision on property taxes:

Yes, $15 per $100,000 means a $300,000 home would pay $45 a year. In a more “sculpted” or “back end loaded” plan, if we started at $1.50 per $100,000 a year, a $300,000 home would pay $4.50 per year at the start … rising by 2044 to $66. The goal of this approach would be to make the future recipients of the hospital pay more than the present.
- Oakville Mayor Rob Burton

Benefits

There is little argument that Oakville has outgrown the OTMH and a new hospital is needed in Oakville. The new hospital offers many benefits over the 60 year old OTMH facility.

New hospital opens in 2015

New hospital able to add proposed new services and equipment such as more single bed rooms and a cancer treatment facility

New hospital provides capacity for future expansion and enhancements to medical services

You can watch the March 1st, 2010 Council meeting live at: www.towntv.ca/

For more information about the new hospital, please visit www.newoakvillehospital.ca