Source: North Bay Nugget May 14, 2005
Dave Dale The North Bay Regional Health Centre may not have to wait for the province’s private-sector partnership model to take full shape before going to tender, chairman Roger Marleau said Thursday. “Their plan doesn’t really apply to us . . . simply because it’s too late,” Marleau said after the first North Bay General Hospital board meeting since Nipissing MPP Monique Smith announced project approval April 14. He told the board Ministry of Public Infrastructure Renewal administrators are “anxious to see this project go ahead . . . they are being very proactive, keeping lines of communication open” with project manager Paul Landry. Asked afterward if the tender for the new hospital will be held up until the province creates its “new and innovative” approach to financing capital construction, Marleau said less established projects face a different reality. “One model they’re looking at, a private construction company would take on all the risks,” he said, noting construction companies would want to be involved from the beginning to ensure their exposure to liability is managed properly.
“We have a 700,000-square-foot facility at 100 per cent drawing stage,” which means a private-sector company “can’t change anything” without starting from the beginning, he said. “The government is still in the position of looking at where they are going to borrow the money,” Marleau said. “We still have to go through the motions, but we’re in good shape . . . I think it’s going to be very soon.” Millions of dollars have already been spent on site preparation with almost $65 million advanced toward the $219-million total, with about $18 million pledged and raised by the Caring for Generations Campaign. Municipalities have pledged to pay almost $18 million of the $24.4-million regional share over 10 and 20 years. The hospital plans to finance the remainder — mostly through cost savings achieved through co-locating the two facilities. The board was also told Thursday that efforts to achieve a balanced operating budget next year — a caveat in the April 14 letter from Minister of Health George Smitherman giving project approval — are continuing. Smitherman said he requires a “balanced budget plan acceptable to the ministry that does not compromise the business plan for repayment of the debt associated with this project.” Mark Hurst, president and chief executive officer, said the “peer review” process started in March is not yet complete. ‘We’re a lot closer to their expectations,” Hurst said. “But we’re not there yet, we have not achieved a balance.” It will be a few weeks before the 2005 base funding for individual hospitals is provided by the province. The provincial budget outlined Wednesday indicates a 4.7 per cent “global” increase for health care, Hurst said. As a new Ontario Hospital Association director representing the Northeastern region, Hurst added there was some concern raised over the “base/inflationary adjustment anticipated.” As for the past year, the fiscal report for 2004-05 shows improvement over the forecast $10.2-million deficit. The board was told the deficit has been reduced by $5.5 million to $4.7
million, due to lower patient volumes, operational streamlining and $1.1
million in one-time funding announced March 31. |