Update: Federal-Provincial Health Summit
For the Attention of
Hospital CEOs, OHA Board of Directors and
CACN Members
From Steve Orsini
Vice President, Policy and Public Affairs
As the federal-provincial summit on health care continues today in Ottawa, we would like to update you on the current status.
Media reports indicate that the Premiers and Prime Minister met well into the early hours this morning, behind closed doors, to attempt to bridge the different proposals on the table from both sides. The federal government has reportedly offered an additional $2 billion over 6 years, bringing the total to almost $15 billion over 6 years. (Ontario's share would be approximately $1 billion per year.)
Provincial Premiers made a counter-proposal yesterday which largely mirrors what they released in Niagara Falls earlier this summer. The Premiers are calling on the federal government to increase health spending by $5.2 billion annually (a level they say will restore Ottawa to a 25% funding partner in the national health system). This works out to approximately $36 billion over six years. Reports this morning state that the Premiers have started to move away from that number, but no specifics have yet been released.
Premier McGuinty was quoted as saying yesterday that hospitals in Ontario have been experiencing growth of about 10 per cent a year, but that the government is holding firm on its 4.3 per cent commitment this year. The Premier continued: "It's going to be 4.3 per cent and that, as you might anticipate, is causing much wailing … [There is] still some work being done in terms of finding out how many hospitals you need and how many beds you might need on a per capita basis … our challenge now is to find a way to put less growth into hospitals so that we can allow for expansion into those areas where people want us to go – community-based care." (CBC Newsworld transcript, Sept. 14, 3:00 p.m.)
As a reminder, on page 16 in the 2004 Ontario Budget, the government made the following commitment: "When additional funds are available from the federal government, further investments will be made to continue the transformation of the sector and to support key health priorities." Premier McGuinty was also quoted yesterday as saying, "hospitals are indispensable. There is no doubt about that."
The OHA will continue to press for fair federal funding for health care to allow the province to invest any new federal health funds in "key health priorities" such as hospitals.
To that end, the OHA issued a press release yesterday stating that federal funding for health care falls far short in addressing current patient care needs, let alone reducing wait times. The release also reiterated the funding situation in Ontario and the choices faced by hospitals as a result of underfunding by the province. The release was sent directly to Ontario M.P.'s as well.
Again, we would strongly encourage each hospital to contact your M.P.(s) and share with them the urgent funding challenge being faced by Ontario's hospitals, and the need for an adequate federal-provincial agreement on health care that will allow hospitals to reduce wait times.
Please don't hesitate to contact me at 416-205-1339 or via e-mail at sorsini@oha.com, should you have any questions or concerns.