The risk is real. Moreen Miller, board chair for Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare (MAHC), the organization which manages both the Huntsville and Bracebridge hospitals, said the community must get behind plans to move forward with two new hospitals—one in Huntsville on the current hospital lands and one in Bracebridge on a new property—or risk losing the funding opportunity to the next community looking for health care redevelopment dollars from the Province.
“The Ministry of Health pays for most of the cost of new buildings, and the local communities have to pay a share of the entire project,” said Miller. The community is required to raise about 30 per cent of the entire project, “including all furnishings, fixtures and equipment in the buildings, plus any revenue-generating space such as parking lots and gift ships that the Ministry won’t pay for.”
MAHC and municipal representatives have been discussing estimated project costs and the need to raise the local share of the project since 2017. Some municipalities have already started setting aside funds but post-pandemic inflationary increases and changes in healthcare are making it difficult to predict how much the project conceptualized in 2019 dollars will cost five to ten years from now, which is when MAHC anticipates it will be able to put shovels in the ground.
“What we now know is because of post-pandemic prices, if the original project plan was built today, the initial 2019 estimate of a $561 million project would have increased about 30 per cent to a 2022 cost of $722 million and the community’s share in today’s dollars would have grown to $167 million,” said Miller. “Efforts to forecast the potential cost at the time of construction in five to 10 years estimate the project could be $967 million with a local share of about $225 million to be raised. We also know how important it is for the region, not only to us but also for our greater communities, to have high quality, safe care through two new hospitals. There is certainly more to come and it’s important to recognize the project cost will continue to evolve as we move through the planning process and get closer to shovel in the ground.”
The Local Share Committee comprised of both the Huntsville and South Muskoka Hospital Foundation and political leaders from area municipalities will continue to work together to determine each party’s contribution “with the collective goal to demonstrate the community’s ability to raise its share of the project to build two new hospitals,” according to MAHC.
“For Muskoka’s future hospitals to proceed to tender, we have to show how our community will pay for its share of the project, and if we can’t demonstrate our plan to do so our project will not move forward,” warned Miller. “We have the Ford government’s support and commitment to contribute approximately three-quarters of the funds and that is a tremendous opportunity for our region to leave a legacy for our future generations.”
To follow MAHC’s capital redevelopment plan visit here.
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