P3 hospital projects are slowly moving ahead in British Columbia and Ontario, but they’re not always living up to their promises of lower costs and on-time delivery.
In Brampton, Ont., the mayor has sent out 100,000 letters asking residents for their stories about wait times and overcrowding at the city’s only hospital. She plans to deliver these to Ontario’s premier and health minister. Brampton residents urgently need a second hospital. The Conservative government’s solution was to build a new hospital under a P3. The project’s costs have shot up, and construction hasn’t even started on the hospital, which was originally slated to open in 2005. CUPE and the Ontario Health Coalition exposed the skyrocketing costs.
A second P3 hospital in Ontario is also drawing fire. A new P3 mental health facility at the Royal Ottawa Hospital will have fewer beds than the facility it’s supposed to replace. The P3 project will close a psychiatric hospital in Brockville, Ont., despite evidence of ongoing need in the community. Patients from Brockville will be sent to Ottawa, adding to the strain on the hospital.
In B.C., a consortium bidding for a P3 hospital in Abbotsford has been awarded the contract, even though there were no other final bids. Critics argue the move violates the provincial government’s promise of competitive tendering. The same consortium is involved in a second P3 hospital in Vancouver. Construction on that hospital may begin this fall.
All the P3 hospital deals are shrouded in secrecy, concealing the true costs to patients, workers and taxpayers.
