When Optics Tell a Different Story, Part 2

A lack of diverse, authentic voices  plagues hospital decision making in Windsor-Essex Part 2

If you missed Part 1, read an archived copy here.   RECAP: In Part 1 we examined the composition of the new hospital site selection committee, as well as the ultimate decision makers and process gatekeepers: those who speak for the entire community at the Ministry of Health and in Queens Park. We also wrote about the Windsor Essex Economic Development Corporation (WE EDC), who recently hired the lobbyist firm Crestview Strategy to create an "interactive grassroots campaign" to promote the hospital project. What the composition of these groups demonstrates is that decision making power in Windsor-Essex rests in a narrow and privileged demographic:

This tight power structure is evidenced by those endorsing the hospital plan in WE EDC's promotional campaign videos. For example, two of the five "testimonials" posted to date are from high level administrators at Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH):

Kevin Marshall is WRH's Director, Facilities & Capital Planning. He serves on the steering committee for the new hospital plan and appears to be the lead WRH contact for many of the planning documents submitted to the Ministry of Health for approval. He reports to the CFO Karen Riddell is WRH's VP, Critical Care, Cardiology, Regional Stroke, Trauma & Clinical Support Services

Another local power broker adds his voice A fifth testimonial was added on July 2, 2020: Noah Tepperman, owner of Tepperman’s Furniture, Mattress, Appliance & Electronics Store. He is the third generation to lead this prosperous local family-owned business (est.1925).

Currently "one of the largest independent home furnishings stores in Canada," Tepperman's has retail locations in Windsor, Chatham, Sarnia, London, Kitchener and Ancaster, according to its website. Noah Tepperman is also: A former director of the Windsor Regional Hospital Foundation, from 2006 to 2012 Convener and co-chair of ProsperUs, a high profile initiative (led by United Way) that's committed to "align resources to ensure that the most vulnerable, and the most promising members of our population – our children and youth – succeed in their education, career and life." Its prominent community partners include WRH and WE EDC Past president of the federal Windsor-Tecumseh NDP Riding Association, a party with an unequivocal commitment to diversity and accountability:

“We value equity and diversity. We recognize the identities we hold may grant or deny us privilege. We also recognize we have multiple identities that intersect. New Democrats have a special responsibility to create space, to listen to diverse voices, and to respect and promote emerging leadership. As we come together, whatever our role within the Party, we reaffirm our collective commitment to mutual respect and accountability, mindful that all persons deserve dignity, equality and respect.”   Excerpt from the Equity Statement, which is read aloud at the outset of NDP meetings

Who stands to lose the most under the new WRH plan? Those who live near the current WRH hospital campuses. Windsor's neighbourhoods within a 5 km radius of downtown -- home to almost 25% of the Windsor-Essex Region's total population -- are also home to tens of thousands of new Canadians, visible minorities, and people living in low income or with disabilities. A large number of these residents are elderly or have chronic medical conditions and deliberately choose to live in the neighbourhoods closest to WRH's Met and Ouellette campuses. Many of the residents of Windsor's most central neighbourhoods have little political clout. They (and their caregivers) often experience transportation and economic challenges in their everyday lives that most middle class suburban residents never have to face. Building for the future: ProsperUs to the community's rescue? ProsperUs, in Coming Together, its inaugural (July 24, 2019) report, focuses on three primarily low income neighbourhoods and the barriers for young people living in them. These neighbourhoods include Downtown and West Windsor (The report also names Leamington, which is served by Erie Shores Health Care, that community's acute care hospital):

ProsperUs lists five key themes it considers to be a foundation of success: family financial stability, health & nutrition, access to housing, transportation and social inclusion.

CAMPP wholeheartedly agrees that these elements support individual and community success. However, given the organization's commitment "to align community resources," how can ProsperUs community partners legitimately promote the $2 billion hospital infrastructure investment in Sandwich South? An investment far removed from the residents in the neighbourhoods the organization was formed to support, and furthermore, one that will hollow out the economic viability of those same neighbourhoods?

“We need to do lots of work with the community and they need to be involved as well,” admitted Dave Cooke, co-chair of the steering committee                   for the new hospital in 2015.

Since 2015, the only concrete progress for the proposed County Road 42 hospital project is that increasing numbers of residents are alarmed about the planned closure of the two accessible WRH urban acute care hospital campuses. Yet in sharp contrast to the WE EDC campaign, the residents calling for a more responsible hospital location are neither financed nor amplified using public tax dollars. The WE EDC campaign underscores how planners (elected and unelected) promoting the new hospital project are still operating in an impenetrable "panic room." These power brokers hide behind purported inclusivity and benevolence. But to date, they've stayed safely distanced from the tens of thousands of residents who stand to lose the most if the County Road 42 hospital site moves forward as proposed. The weakness of their elite bubble is highlighted by the repeated failed attempts to find a groundswell of genuine community support for the hospital plan.

Now is the right time for Windsor's Mayor Dilkens to prove his commitment to inclusive community consultation. This is a perfect moment to formally and robustly introduce authentic, new and diverse voices in the planning of the new Windsor-Essex hospital system! Mayor Dilkens, elected to represent all Windsor residents, recently declared his commitment to diversity by recognizing that  "It is important to talk with people who can make us see the world differently." Here are some ways this can be immediately achieved -- without resorting to tokenism -- and without negatively affecting the provincial funding for our new hospital: We call upon the Board of Directors of WRH to restructure the membership of all decision-making committees involving hospital planning to accurately reflect the community's broad diversity of perspectives and lived experiences. We call upon Ontario's Ministry of Health to appoint an independent facilitator to oversee the open community discussion that Windsor-Essex residents deserve, before proceeding to the next stage of hospital planning We invite community organizations in leadership positions like United Way and ProsperUs, and their partners, to join CAMPP's call for an independent facilitator to listen to and address residents' concerns about the location of the new hospital We also ask that local councillors question financial decisions related to hospital planning funneled through WE EDC, which receives its funding from Windsor and Essex County municipalities.   Only then will Windsor-Essex leaders be in a position to choose the best location for the new hospital.