Plans for a new Windsor-Essex Hospitals System are creating a lot of buzz.   That is great!  This is the community’s hospital and the more voices we have involved in the discussion, the better.

It’s important, however, that when talking about the hospitals, the plans, and the history of healthcare in the region, we are using correct facts.  Inaccurate information is dangerous and possibly detrimental to the future of the proposed project. . It would be devastating for our region and generations to come not to advance with respect to desperately needed healthcare infrastructure investment based upon inaccurate statements that are made to achieve an alternative purpose.

To that end, we would like to address some inaccuracies that were circulated last week in the form of letters to the print media and on social media.

INACCURATE STATEMENT:

“When the proposal to replace our hospitals was launched in 2012, the projected cost was in the $1.2 billion range. In less than three years, this ballooned by 80 per cent to $2 billion.”

For this discussion it is important to compare apples to apples.  That means comparing all of the changes proposed to both campuses in the past, to what is being proposed today.  The facts point not only to a financial cost savings, but better value for a project that will meets today’s standards, and the needs of patients in Windsor-Essex.

FACTS:

  • Before it recommended, based on overwhelming support for the community, proceeding with a new hospital, the Windsor Essex Hospitals Taskforce looked at the Master Plans completed in 2008/2009 (“2008/09 Plans”) for both Windsor Regional Hospital Metropolitan and Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital, Ouellette Campus.  The 2008/09 Plans included a combined total of $2.168 billion in redevelopment/building costs.   Those calculations included $1.005 billion to redevelop the Ouellette campus and $1.162 billion to build a new Met Hospital.
  • The November 2012 Task Force report clearly states “the costs of new hospitals constructed elsewhere in the province (roughly $1.2 billion) is well exceeded by the $2 billion estimated cost in total to rebuild Windsor Regional Hospital’s Metropolitan campus and reconstruct seven inpatient floors at Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital” Ouellette campus. For background, check out the Windsor Hospitals Study: Final Report.
  • The province recognized the 2008/09 Plans, with a price tag of more than $2 billion, still resulted in short, medium and long-term deficiencies at the Ouellette site and inefficiencies and a bifurcated delivery model for patients operating two separate acute care hospitals.
  • The cost of the 2008/2009 Plans also do not take into account changes in legislative codes and requirements. Infection control standards have changed significantly since then and as a result the cost of building those same facilities today, would also increase.
  • The approximately $2 billion investment announced in July 2015.  Of which, $1.44B is for the new acute care hospital. The reason the new acute care hospital cost has increased since the 2009 estimate is, in large part, because it changed from just housing Met campus’ programs to including also Ouellette campus’ programs and changed from 928,097 sf to 1,628,466 sf. let alone the changes in codes and infection control requirements.
  • The approximately $2B investment also includes:
    • An Urgent Care Centre and Satellite facility which will offer primary care at the former Grace Hospital site;
    • A regional, centre of excellence for children and adult mental health at the HDGH Tayfour Campus;
    • Additional on-site dialysis and additional diagnostic imaging at the Tayfour Campus; and
    • Mental health services, chronic disease management, dialysis services and a community hub at the Ouellette campus.

INACCURATE STATEMENT:

“What is supposed to streamline the delivery of health care services, morphed into a project that will demolish two facilities, including a new $50 million Cancer Centre …”

FACTS:

  • The Cancer Centre opened in 2001 and is nearly 15 years old
  • The actual cost of the project is nearly $ 22.5 million including all of the equipment. The actual total construction costs was approximately $20.5 million.
  • After 15 years, additional outpatient treatment and patient assessment space is now required because program growth in systemic and radiation oncology.
  • This additional patient care space would require center expansion at the existing site.
  • Right now the centre is operating at extended hours to meet the current needs.
  • The equipment in the facility must be decommissioned and replaced no later than 2020 according to Cancer Care Ontario.
  • The addition of a fourth treatment unit at the existing site is complicated by existing structures and is very costly.
  • Ideally, the hospital redevelopment will be timed to facilitate machine replacements without reduced treatment capacity or without having to relocate machines to a new site.

WATCH:  Radiation Oncology Program Director Jeff Richer, explains why now is the ideal time to move forward with plans for a new hospital.