Mayor Dilkens: The Hospital location is a Municipal Concern
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Mayor Dilkens has been known for claiming the hospital location is not the concern of city council. That is only true if the Mayor denies any expression of concern. Recently the Windsor Star reported:
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“While council will decide on the rezoning, the mayor said that Windsor city council doesn’t determine the location of a new regional hospital. That process was guided by a hospital steering committee and endorsed by the hospital’s board. The only decision made by municipal politicians was approval by city and county councils to provide $200 million towards the project’s $2-billion cost.”(1)
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Well Mayor Dilkens, other municipalities do get involved in the location of hospitals. Here is a quick summary of some municipalities involved in hospital location:
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Muskoka: Huntsville council asked the province to immediately dismiss MAHC's board of directors when the board insisted on consolidating two hospitals into one. (2)
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Collingwood: council delayed the decision on hospital location citing more time was needed for a comprehensive review.(3) Municipal councillors currently seated on the hospital board will be replaced with an ongoing municipal forum on the hospital.(4)
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Ottawa: Mayor Jim Watson is credited for having brought together the hospital and politicians from all three levels of government to find an alternate site.(5)
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Niagara region: three mayors united on the fight to keep Welland Hospital.(6) The result was a decision by the Ministry to keep Welland Hospital open.(7)
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Vaughan: the city was heavily involved with the purchase of the hospital property and in settling a dispute between a private party and Mackenzie Health.(8)
The list could go on, including almost every community replacing or consolidating hospitals, and in many of those communities there are several examples where council, and often MPP’s, became directly involved in decision-making.
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It should also be noted that the issues in Windsor might be considered more severe than in other communities. For example: Muskoka population is only 60,000; Collingwood’s proposed hospital site is only a few kilometers from the current site; Ottawa’s hospital used accessibility as a top criterion, and most of the locations chosen from were close to the downtown; and in Niagara they are discussing a second new major hospital for 438,000 people, not just one.
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3) https://barrie.ctvnews.ca/collingwood-council-delays-decision-on-hospital-location-1.3344400
8) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackenzie_Vaughan_Hospital#CITEREFGrewal2013a
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