Public input requested for new Vaughan hospital
Friday January 11, 2008 -- Tom Philp
Ontario’s Central Local Health Integration Network (Central LHIN) this week made another positive step in the process to build the new Vaughan Health Campus of Care (VHCC) by inviting the public to share ideas with project organizers.
The Central LHIN and Vaughan Health Care Foundation, will host a Community Consultation Session to further engage area residents as plans for the new Vaughan hospital move forward. Input from the community regarding the future delivery of hospital services is a key requirement of the Central LHIN and Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. The Minister gave draft approval for a hospital service needs assessment for Vaughan in April 2007, the initial step in the development of a new hospital for Vaughan.
The Central LHIN and the Vaughan Health Care Foundation held an initial meeting with public and other stakeholders December 4, 2007. Information gathered at that session assisted in identifying the services for an acute/ambulatory care facilities. Detail regarding these services will be presented during the follow-up meeting to be held later this month, January 30.
“Public input is a vital part of our planning process,” said Ron Shenfield, Project Manager with Central LHIN. “Knowing what consumers, the people who will access this centre for care, want and expect from their service providers is an enormous benefit.”
“We are now getting a better idea from the community as to what their needs are. By getting members of the community involved, it’s generating an “energy” about the project, and a sense of ownership for a new hospital,” Shenfield said.
Vaughan, with a population of just over 250,000, is the largest city in Canada without its own acute care hospital. Statistics Canada estimates that Vaughan’s population will exceed 300,000 people by 2010. An IBM Business Consulting Services study, completed in 2005 for the Vaughan Health Care Facility Study Task Force, showed that more than 92 per cent of Vaughan residents were seeking acute health care services in either Toronto (56 per cent) or York Region (36 per cent).
Anastasia Vogt, administrator for the Vaughan Health Care Foundation said the public engagement session would allow the public to review information on what services could be provided in a new hospital for Vaughan to meet the needs of the local community, and provide opportunity for citizens to have additional say in the planning process.
The Community Consultation Session will be held 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at the Vellore Village Community Centre, 1 Villa Royale, in Woodbridge. Light refreshment will be served.