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Costs for a P3 hospital in North Bay have gone through the roof. At first, the price tag for the North Bay Regional Health Centre started out at $218 million. Then, the provincial Liberals announced a P3 that was pegged at $551 million for construction, building maintenance, repair and financing.

The true cost of the 30-year contract is over $1 billion, according to a leaked document signed by provincial health minister George Smitherman. Local media is accusing the government of using “financial jargon” and being “evasive” about the true costs.

The North Bay Nugget argues “there is a difference between the traditional and widely accepted method of funding hospital construction in Ontario and the new model involving the private sector over a number of years… The province continues to dance around the issue, trumpeting its deal with the private sector rather than addressing questions surrounding its openness with taxpayers.”

Visit the Ontario Health Coalition website for more information.