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Hospital set for Vaughan

Local Health Care Foundation singled out as key player by minister

May 02, 2007 04:30 AM
Phinjo Gombu Staff reporter

After years of lobbying, Vaughan – Canada's biggest city without a hospital – is finally going to get one, a point of both pride and need to the municipality that bills itself as the "city above Toronto."

But who's going to build and run it and whether it will resemble a traditional hospital remains to be seen.

"I don't think any commitment or expectation has been built around who is going to run the hospital," said Hy Eliasoph, chief executive officer of the province's Central Local Health Integration Network, yesterday.

"We don't believe the future delivery of health care is supported by a single big huge hospital structure," said Eliasoph, whose organization was asked by Health Minister George Smitherman on Friday to draft a plan in the next 12 months for the hospital, with construction beginning within four years.

"It's not flexible," Eliasoph said of the traditional hospital model, noting that in recent years, health care trends have gravitated toward satellite facilities linked to an existing hospital.

"We're going to look at all the options," he said, adding it could be one group that runs it or a collaboration of several institutions. "There are no givens."

The Vaughan Health Care Foundation was singled out at Smitherman's announcement as one of the key groups that will work with CLHIN.

Acting foundation chair Michael DeGasperis said yesterday his group – consisting of councillors and residents, which began work in 2003 – sees itself as a key player in any hospital.

Vaughan councillors passed a motion this week supporting the foundation as the central player.

A study conducted by the foundation indicated Vaughan needs a 375-bed hospital, which could cost about $275 million to build. York Central Hospital, in neighbouring Richmond Hill, has about 300 beds.

DeGasperis said that since Friday, several hospitals have contacted the foundation, seeking involvement.

"We are the ones we think will carry it through completion," DeGasperis said.

Things could, however, still get interesting when it comes to who operates the facility.

"I don't think anyone or anything is out of the picture, including York Central Hospital," said Eliasoph.

Relations between the Vaughan Health Care Foundation and York Central soured in a recent public spat when York Central suddenly announced plans for a satellite health care centre in Vaughan.

The centre, the hospital announced, would have advanced services such as urgent-care dialysis, rehabilitation and specialty clinics, considered a forerunner to a full-fledged hospital.

The hospital also announced a specific location at Rutherford Rd. and Melville Ave. in Vaughan for the facility – even though it has yet to seek permission from the Ministry of Health.

That prompted DeGasperis to fire off a letter saying the expansion jeopardized the Vaughan foundation's own ministry-approved plans for a community health centre.

The foundation, he said, had chosen to work with Toronto's Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre to provide similar services, putting it in direct competition with York Central's plans.

Since then, both sides have continued to talk but neither has backed down. A foundation spokesperson said yesterday it is in the final stages of finalizing a lease for its own site.

Eliasoph said whichever facility is built will ultimately be integrated into the Vaughan hospital announced by Smitherman.
 
Site near Wonderland favoured for first Vaughan hospital

Site near Wonderland favoured for first Vaughan hospital

Apr 24, 2009 04:30 AM
Phinjo Gombu
urban affairs reporter


The Vaughan Health Care Foundation will ask the city council next week for $80 million to buy a property for the purpose of building the city's first hospital next to Canada's Wonderland.

That bold request, if approved, could translate into a one-time 5.6 per cent increase in local taxes, or about $60 per home.

When added to a hike of 2.84 per cent, Vaughan homeowners could find themselves paying a tax bill that is 8.4 per cent higher this year.

Council is not expected to vote on the proposal until after a staff review.

The health care foundation, whose directors include local business people and several councillors, have settled on a preferred location for the proposed $1.2 billion hospital: land just north of the theme park, on Major Mackenzie Dr. off Highway 400.

It entered into a conditional agreement this month to buy the land from Cedar Fair, the Ohio-based owner of Wonderland, for an undisclosed sum.

The request for $80 million follows last year's vague commitment by council to make "a significant contribution" toward acquiring land for a hospital. A news release from the foundation yesterday made no mention of the amount of money being sought but stressed that Vaughan is the largest city in Canada without a hospital.

"After decades of discussion, and tremendous effort on the part of our dedicated volunteers, Vaughan's much-needed future hospital is physically beginning to take shape," said Michael De Gasperis, chair of the foundation.

De Gasperis said he was confident of community support for the request. He said acquiring a site will allow the Central Area Local Health Integration Network to begin defining the exact footprint of the campus-style hospital and its medical services.

A consultant who conducted the site search was told it needed to be at least 16 hectares in an area bounded by Major Mackenzie Dr., Highway 427, King-Vaughan Rd. and Jane St. An original list of 28 potential sites was shortened to six.

The province expects communities to pay a third of the cost of building a new hospital.

Earlier this year, York Region voted to contribute $264 million – $12 million annually for 22 years – toward construction of the proposed Vaughan hospital and upgrades of existing ones in Richmond Hill, Newmarket and Markham-Stouffville.

Source
 
Seems like a poor location for a hospital if you ask me. Would be a great location, if Wonderland were not there.
I think the property could be used for much better purposes. It makes me sad to know that Cedar Fair wants to sell the property to one of their best money making parks.
 
They are only proposing to sell some of their land on the north side of Major Mackenzie Drive, opposite where the park is. That land is only currently used for for ramps to access parking on the south side of Major Mac - it is really quite underused in its current layout. I think it's actually quite a good proposal to better use the land there.

42
 
this is a horrible location for a hospital.

The need for a hospital in Vaughan is in the south, in the Thornhill area or east Woodbridge area. There already is a hospital on Major Mac & Bathurst, why build another one in the same area?

A good spot for a Vaughan hospital would be in the 'Vaughan Corporate Centre' area near Highway 7 and Jane. It would be easily accessible by highways and by subway!

It would also act to spur some development around it.

A hospital near Wonderland would not help bridge that gap left due to lack of hospitals in NW Toronto area. North Vaughan is not heavily populated, but south Vaughan is and desperately needs a hospital.

Also, they need to restore Branson to a full hospital status.
 
khristopher said:
Seems like a poor location for a hospital if you ask me. Would be a great location, if Wonderland were not there.
I think the property could be used for much better purposes. It makes me sad to know that Cedar Fair wants to sell the property to one of their best money making parks.
Click to expand...

I don't see why it is such a bad location. The area has seen a lot of growth over the year. Wonderland is surrounded by residential. It is also right next to the 400, putting everyone who lives in Vaughan or beyond within the 400 corridor a short drive away from it. This is also the area where Vaughan City Hall is being built.
 
Y'know, Wonderworld's roller coasters aren't getting any younger. Having a hospital nearby in the future is not the worst idea ever.

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interchange42 said:
Y'know, Wonderworld's roller coasters aren't getting any younger. Having a hospital nearby in the future is not the worst idea ever.

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Click to expand...

That's ridiculous. I'm sure you're being sarcastic.

That property would be better utilized as a hotel property, or moving their maintenance and storage, for more room for developments of the theme park.
 
No, no sarcasm was intended. It was a joke.

Khris - why would Wondertown expand the park across to the north side of Major Mac? There is no indication they plan to add any more "lands", which would be a very expensive proposition, and we only get new rides from them every couple of years or so, for which they still have places within the grounds to thread more in amongst the others. They already advertise that they have North America's greatest variety of roller coasters...

I just don't see any pressure on them to expand significantly, but if they really had to, they could put some of their parking lot into a garage and use some of its former size to increase the park area. Or maybe someday the Spadina subway will be extended even further into Vaughan, at which point the parking lot could be reduced again... actually what they should do is build a roller coaster to get you to the park up Jane Street from the new end of the subway at VCC.

There, problems solved. Bring on the hospital.

42
 
It's a good location - close to the 400 and all, except it is relatively close to the existing York Central Hospital on Major Mack in Richmond Hill. I wonder if that hospital would be replaced down the road as well - it's a constrained site.

That, and the mega hospital at the MTO lands at 401 and Keele will serve the area well enough - the new Vaughan Hospital may hopefully take some of the load from the overburdened Brampton Civic as well.
 
It's a pretty good location, making better use of some very valuable but quite underutilized land. It's better than a residential use of this land (unsuitable, IMO). There is already a good deal of commercial land in the immediate area.

I like the idea that you could build a roller coaster to get from the parking area into the hospital, perhaps not much different than the people mover at the airport :) It could run right into the emergency room to dump the people directly onto beds, then run back for more. Innovative, or what?
 
I don't believe Wonderland is allowed to develop the land north of Major Mac anyway (it's sort of a buffer zone between the houses and the park's mayhem).
 
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