Brampton council declares a health care emergency
Posted in: News Item
Date Posted: 2020-01-23
Organization Name: City of Brampton
Brampton council has unanimously passed a motion to declare a health care emergency in the city.
The motion was brought forth by Coun. Harkirat Singh, and seconded by Mayor Patrick Brown. The motion resolved:
- That a Health Care Emergency be declared for the City of Brampton; and
- That the CAO and appropriate city staff be requested to work with the William Osler Health System (WOHS), the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada to grant urgent frontline health care funding to Brampton Civic Hospital and Peel Memorial Centre to ensure they are operating with full staffing and resources in order to provide safe and quality patient care immediately; and
- That the CAO and appropriate city staff be requested to work with the William Osler Health System (WOHS), the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada to ensure a fully operational Emergency Department and adequate inpatient services with additional hospital beds to ensure hospital bed count is equivalent to the provincial average per capita, a need for an additional 850 beds, at Peel Memorial Centre in the Phase II development of the Peel Memorial Centre for Integrated Health and Wellness, to be achieved within this current mandate of the Provincial Government; and
- That a copy of this resolution be forwarded to the Minister of Health, all Brampton Members of Provincial Parliament, the Office of the Premier, all Provincial Parliament Leaders of the Opposition Parties, all Brampton Members of Federal Parliament, the President and CEO of the William Osler Health System, the Brampton/Etobicoke and Area Ontario Health Team and the Region of Peel.
“Brampton’s health care system is in dire need of funding and support from the provincial Government,” Mayor Brown said. “On behalf of Brampton city council, we will not stand idly by. We have officially declared a Health Care Emergency in Brampton, and we are requesting immediate action and response from all health care system providers to address our community’s urgent needs.”
In December, council passed a resolution that recognized the unique and urgent needs of Brampton’s health care system, including major funding gaps, long wait times, and hallway medicine. The resolution requested immediate action from all health care system providers.
“Bringing this motion forward today was absolutely essential. Brampton’s hallway medicine and overcrowding is constantly used as an example of what health care crises look like nationally,” said Singh, city councillor for Wards 9 and 10 said. “Brampton deserves its fair share and our residents deserve the basic right of having access to adequate health care.”
The city has undertaken many initiatives to request more funding and support for Brampton’s health care system. These include presenting to provincial and federal representatives at annual conferences for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, advocating to the provincial and federal governments through the upcoming Pre-Budget Submission process for both levels of government, and promoting the #FairDealForBrampton health care advocacy campaign to build awareness and support for Brampton’s health care concerns.
To date, the #FairDealForBrampton campaign has received 18,000 resident signatures in a petition to the province to bridge the health care funding gap between Brampton and other municipalities, provide funding and support for expanding facilities and services at the Peel Memorial Centre, and provide funding for a third health care facility in Brampton.
“As the fastest growing large city in Canada, Brampton deserves fair and adequate health care,” said Rowena Santos, chair of Community Services. “Patients are dying in the hallways of the city’s only hospital. It is time for us to demand a fair deal on health care and put a stop to overcrowded and underfunded hallway medicine. Brampton cannot afford to wait!”