County council is considering a $9-million cash infusion to three Wellington hospitals: Groves Memorial in Fergus, Louise Marshall (LMH) in Mount Forest and Palmerston District Hospital (PDH) in Palmerston.
Council debated the joint funding request from Jerome Quenneville, CEO of the three hospitals, at a special meeting on March 18. Quenneville and Groves hospital board chair Paul Smith sat in the gallery during the discussion and did not make a presentation.
The issue of hospital funding was raised at the county late last year – prior to the formal request for $9 million – and resulted in the formation of an ad hoc hospital committee to discuss funding.
Warden Chris White told council the request is for $5 million for the construction of the new Groves hospital and $4 million split between LMH and PDH for hospital upgrades, including a new emergency room in Mount Forest and an 11,000-square-foot health centre in Palmerston.
The county has already committed $5 million to the Groves project.
With county councillors coming from all points in Wellington, a request to fund hospitals could have “a thousand different configurations as to who uses what hospital,” White said. The same would apply, he added, to funding for hospitals coming from municipalities where they are located.
“Hospital funding, as we all know, has come and gone, come and gone,” the warden said of previous political discussions on how hospitals should be funded. “We can set a policy (on ongoing funding from the county) or set a policy around this $9 million.”
Councillor Ray Tout, the mayor of Wellington North where LMH is located, told council Mount Forest and the area served by the hospital has undertaken a $5 million fundraising campaign for the work planned.
The $5 million is a commitment the provincial government, which is paying for 90 per cent of the work, wants from the municipality in order to move ahead on the project. Tout said the $5 million commitment by the municipality should also include the county.
“I ask today that Wellington County be there for us,” he said.
Tout noted the work planned at LMH is designed to support an increase in the number of hospital visits in the next five years as the population ages.
Councillor Joanne Ross-Zuj, Centre Wellington mayor, acknowledged her community is also involved in a local fundraising effort.
She suggested the discussion on the $9 million should include a larger discussion on future county policy on hospital funding. Ross-Zuj had difficulty with the amount being requested.
“The ask for $9 million is not in our budget so it has to go back to administration, finance, administration (committee),” she said.
The committee is charged with plotting the financial direction at the county level when the other committees present their budgets or financial requests.
Councillor Mark MacKenzie wondered if county approval of the $9 million grant would indicate a county “policy change” and open the door to future funding requests.
MacKenzie was concerned that by rejecting the request, hospitals could be put in jeopardy – as was the case in the late 1990s when hospitals in the north end were threatened with closure by the province.
“These hospitals provide essential services,” MacKenzie said. “By not accepting it (the request), I’d hate to see the subject of the demise of rural hospitals come up.”
Councillor Ken Chapman, whose ward is in the southern part of the county around Erin, voiced concern about county funding because Erin received none when the municipality raised $4.5 million for a medical clinic.
He said hospitals should remain under the jurisdiction of the provincial and federal governments.
Chapman questioned where the county would find the money after passing its own budget, noting council “couldn’t find any money to reduce taxes.
“I don’t believe the county can afford $9 million,” said Chapman.
He wanted to know from hospital officials what the money would be spent on and he questioned whether the county would be willing to put up money to expand the clinic in Erin, with the population expected to expand with the construction of 1,000 new homes in the next five years.
“If we are not willing to fund all medical facilities in the future in the county I do not know why we should fund these three,” said Chapman.
Councillor and Minto Mayor George Bridge said hospital funding should never have been downloaded to the local level.
“I believe it’s a provincial-federal matter but at this time we’re dealt the deck we’re dealt,” Bridge said of the need for hospitals to seek financial assistance from municipal governments.
Bridge also suggested that if approved by the county, any donation be spread out over several years.
“I don’t know how we would fund it (this year) but we have to look at it,” said Bridge.
Councillor Don McKay noted several hospitals outside the county, including Guelph, serve residents from the county and he predicted funding requests could come from those hospitals.
McKay also called for better accounting from the hospitals about what the money will be used for and how much local communities are raising.
“We should look at what is going to be our county policy to fund hospitals,” said McKay.
Councillor Shawn Watters said hospitals are an important part of the areas they serve and have been identified in the county economic development strategy as essential services to lure business and workers to the county.
“Hospitals are an extremely big economic component to our community,” Watters said. “The hospital is a good thing for the county, it makes us progressive.”
He suggested county council limit its debate to the $9 million request and “move on.”
Tout said a decision should be made soon with a possible provincial election pending that could throw the agreement with LMH off the table if a new government is elected.
“We have to prove we have raised our $5 million so we can get funding (or) should that fall off because of a provincial election?” Tout said.
Councillor and Puslinch Mayor Dennis Lever acknowledged the possible economic spin-off to the areas served by hospitals.
“We need to make sure we don’t do anything to impede the northern and central part of the county from economic development,” Lever said. He also wanted more details.
“I’d like to see how we got to that $9 million,” Lever said. “I support the approach because I think it’s key to the people who live in the northern part of the county.”
Councillor Jean Innes also wanted more details.
“I think we just have to face up to it; we are being told by the province we have to come up with some contributions to our hospitals,” Innes said.
Councillor Gary Williamson said the county was “better off’ than the lower tier municipalities to provide funding. But he also wants more information on how the money will be spent.
Williamson said he could support local funding on a “one-time” basis from the county.
“This council is here for the betterment of the county as a whole,” he said. “You look after your own house first.”
Williamson added, “I agree the province should be the ones to make it happen.”
Councillor Bruce Whale, the mayor of Mapleton, where most residents are served by either Groves or PDH, cautioned against using tax money for health care, which is “supposed to be federal-provincially funded.”
“I’m not sure property taxes were ever meant to fund health care,” Whale said. “I struggle with where our responsibility starts.”
Councillor and Erin Mayor Lou Maieron questioned where the $9 million would come from and wondered whether the contribution would lead to the county considering funding medical facilities in other parts of the county.
“I’m having a rough time. I’m going to have the same needs in my community,” Maieron said. “How are we at the county going to improve the quality of life for all the residents of the county? I don’t think we can limit it to just a few hospitals. You have to look at all medical providers.”
Councillor John Green noted the medical facility in Drayton was also built by “public fundraising” and he noted hospitals in the county raise money for upgrading equipment annually.
LMH and PDH provide specialty services that have not always been available in the northern part of the county, said Green, the administration, finance and personnel committee chairman. He added any contribution from the county will not come in one lump sum.
“The raising of $9 million is not going to be in the writing of one cheque,” Green said. “We can probably raise this money over five years. That makes the opportunity to raise the money a lot better.”
Council decided hospital officials should provide details of what the money will be used for and how much is being raised in the individual areas serviced by the three hospitals.
Council also directed the matter to its administration, finance and personnel committee for discussion before it returns to county council for final debate and a decision.
Quenneville told the Advertiser after the meeting that the hospitals are prepared to make information available to the county. The hospital CEO said he welcomed the political discussion on county funding of hospitals.
“It was worthwhile to see that conversation occurring,” he said.
