Ontario to spend $3.6 million on Durham hospitals but no movement on expected Whitby site

The Ontario government is set to spend nearly $4 million on hospitals and clinics in Durham Region. However, that cash is not going toward the $3 million needed to begin the development of the expected new Whitby hospital.

Instead Pickering MPP and Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy announced the following funding on June 25;

• $3,580,000 for Lakeridge Health
• $37,000 for Community Care Durham, and
• $32,000 for the Durham Community Health Centre

According to the announcement, the funds are designed to finance infrastructure upgrades to the existing facilities. This includes new roofs, windows, security systems, fire alarm systems and emergency generators.

“By enhancing these essential facilities, we ensure that hardworking families across the Region of Durham can access the quality care they need in safe, modern environments,” Bethlenfalvy said.

These funds are part of an earmarked $228 million set aside to upgrade health facilities across Ontario. Bethlenfalvy first announced this funding when he presented his 2024 budget to Queen’s Park at the end of March.

This represents a 10 per cent jump in funding for the government’s Health Infrastructure Renewal Fund over last year and includes an extra $20 million for the Exceptional Circumstances Project Grant.

“We’re grateful to our provincial partners for their invaluable investment and unwavering commitment to enhancing local health-care services and hospital infrastructure. This support is crucial to enabling Lakeridge Health to provide the highest quality of care and ensure the healthiest communities,” said Lakeridge Health CEO Cynthia Davis.

These initiatives are part of $85 billion in total healthcare funding in the 2024 budget.

However, those billion still don’t include funding for the long-awaited Whitby Lakeridge Health hospital site. Lakeridge selected a lot by Hwy. 412 and Hwy. 407 to host its sixth hospital in Durham Region way back in January 2022. The site is meant to house the only trauma centre between Toronto and Kingston.

Ontario is largely responsible for funding the project. For the hospital to finally begin construction, Ontario has to send $3 million just to get the site ready for construction.

Despite mounting public pressure from Whitby Mayor Elizabeth Roy, town residents, Whitby MP Ryan Turnbull and Oshawa MPP Jennifer French, Bethlenfalvy has not assigned the needed cash for three annual budgets.

Ford reassured voters “There’s going to be a Whitby hospital” back in February but added the caveat that the province is not issuing planning grants. The lack of funding comes despite assurances from Premier Doug Ford Whitby MPP and Ford’s Parliamentary Assistant Lorne Coe is “always on me” to get the hospital funded. Health Minister Sylvia Jones later echoed this claim.

However, Coe’s calls seem to fall on deaf ears. In April, Ford ripped into Roy’s advocacy efforts saying, “I’m not going to be bullied by that mayor out there that’s constantly going out and offering everything under the kitchen sink. Maybe the integrity commissioner should be looking into, ‘Are politicians allowed to offer gifts if they get your email?’ It’s really unbelievable.”

Roy was quick to fire back saying, “The Premier is misdirecting the public with inaccurate allegations that are frankly disrespectful to the thousands of people who took the time to support our campaign and share personal stories. Standing up for the residents of Whitby is not being a bully. It’s doing my job.”

In his earlier press conference, Ford backtracked on his February assurance and cast doubt on the hospital location. “The folks in Durham will be getting a hospital and we’ll be determining the site,” he said.