Years of Bait and Switch:

BREAKING NEWS - - - May 6, 2019, The Globe & Mail: Will Windsor's new hospital heal the city or do it harm?

Years of Bait and Switch: A Small Handful of Officials are Selling Our Future Short

Both Mayor Drew Dilkens and Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) CEO, David Musyj are lawyers. Surely both are thoroughly familiar with the legal system. Why are a small handful of mostly unelected officials using the local media to create public fear and confusion? Why are they so afraid of the independent LPAT Tribunal's legal process?

LPAT is an independent provincial tribunal that ensures good governance and transparency Of course, we all support necessary improvements to our regional hospital system. But how can they possibly claim in the May 4, 2019 Windsor Star that CAMPP, after six years of sustained public advocacy and engagement, did not "participate in the process"? In fact, we submitted three detailed reports to the consultants overseeing the site selection process: one in September 2016, another in July 2017, and a final one in August 2018. Furthermore: Over 2,000 local households requested lawn signs demanding hospital services remain accessible to the city's more than 200,000 residents Hundreds of residents have spoken at, or written to Windsor City Council 1,300 signed an online petition asking to keep hospital services in Windsor's city centre 2,500 signed a petition to the Ontario Legislature requesting a restart of the site selection process Countless letters and emails were sent to local MPPs, appealing to them to intervene To date, nearly 300 individuals or community groups have contributed almost $55,000 to our GoFundMe campaign to pay our legal costs for our current LPAT challenge. If this isn't enough, what's expected to "participate in the process"? Remarkably, it was the City and WRH (at the March 20, 2019 LPAT Case Management Conference) who refused the Tribunal's request to participate in mediation. Why? Because CAMPP would not agree to their bizarre terms: Accept the County Road 42 site! Isn't this the very issue on which the LPAT is supposed to rule? "Darn-tootin'!" This week again, more questions than answers! When Windsor’s mayor Drew Dilkens announced to the media on Friday, May 3, 2019 that Windsor City Council unanimously decided to put the former Grace Hospital site up for sale, the story generated more questions than answers. This wasn’t exactly breaking news. More than a year ago, on February 15, 2018, the Windsor Star reported that a high ranking local health official involved in the planning of the new hospital said there were no longer any plans to build the previously announced Urgent Care Centre on the former Grace site. As we wrote to you in our eblast on February 18, 2018:

Windsor Regional Hospital CEO David Musyj vehemently denied the Grace site is no longer in sight. He described it as fiction, saying, "If someone is saying that, they don't know what they are talking about. Unless it's coming from (Ontario Health Minister) Eric Hoskins or (Premier) Kathleen Wynne, they are liars."

Just over a year later, it appears the Windsor Star's source was telling the truth after all! We do think the announcement of the potential repurposing of the Grace site for a mixed use development is a great relief. Windsor needs more housing stock and commercial activity downtown. The Grace site location along the University Avenue corridor could kickstart a long-awaited and much-needed economic revival.   What's the difference between a UCC and a "Satellite ED"? WRH officials now appear to be planning to locate the downtown urgent care centre on the current WRH Ouellette Campus site. However, they are calling it a "satellite Emergency Department (ED)."

"It’s an emergency department, just without inpatient beds. So it’s staffed by emergency room physicians, emergency room nurses. It can handle any type of issue."  -- WRH CEO David Musyj on AM800 on May 1, 2019

Is this an elaborate marketing exercise to sell an unacceptable, and potentially life-threatening reduction in healthcare services to what they think is a gullible public? They suggested we look to Brampton’s new facility to learn about what is being planned in Windsor. So we did. This is what we found on the Peel Memorial Urgent Care Centre website - note that for serious conditions, patients are told to travel to one of two acute care hospitals:

Before believing whether the new facility being planned in downtown Windsor is actually an Emergency Department that can handle any kind of issue, the public deserves to know: Will it treat life-threatening conditions like strokes and heart attacks? Will it be open 24/7? Will it accept ambulances? Will there be ambulatory care clinics and surgeries? Will patients with referrals to see a specialist be able to see them there or will they need to travel to the acute care hospital?

A Message for Mothers

“Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.” -- Benjamin Franklin

For many who oppose the mega-hospital location, the biggest issue is access. If you’re used to driving everywhere, you probably don’t think a whole lot about how the County Road 42 location might affect people who don't drive. What if you can’t afford a car or taxi fare?  For mothers living in poverty, this is a critical issue. According to 2015 statistics: 32.1% of Windsor West children under the age of 17 live in poverty Many of these children live in single-parent (mother-only) households The proposed plan includes the closing of both Met and Ouellette acute care hospitals. Each has a 24/7 ER, ORs and specialists on call. Both are easily accessible by bus with few transfers needed. But the remote mega-hospital site will require several transfers for most riders.  That’s of course if buses are running at all. Imagine being a single parent living in poverty with a child in hospital or with ongoing medical needs. Now, imagine this without a car. The 15-18 km cab ride from the west end to the proposed hospital location will cost approximately $35 (one way). While the City has promised to provide public transit access, you can imagine how long it will take to get to the proposed mega-hospital. And what if you have to get there in the middle of the night or on a holiday? Transit Windsor currently doesn’t operate 24/7 and who knows if it ever will? Some of our county friends like to point out that this is a regional hospital and that it should serve the realities of the region. Indeed it should.

In the community: What people have been writing this week

"LPAT does NOT decide where the hospital goes. They simply decide if WRH and the City played by the rules when making their decision." "The fact that people like Musyj take offence to the group exercising a perfectly legal and valid argument speaks volume about the character of those people. Keep up the good work." "Urban sprawl at its worst, losing farmland, more flooding. Empty the core, we should be developing the core and make the city vibrant. Learn from other smart cities. Develop where the services already exist!!!!" "I admire the passion and purpose of CAMPP. Best wishes for the successful completion of the fundraising campaign."

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