BRAMPTON, ON (October 27, 2020) – The City of Brampton welcomes the Premier of Ontario’s announcement to support Brampton’s health care needs. Today, Mayor Patrick Brown joined Premier Doug Ford, Minister of Health Christine Elliott, Associate Minister and MPP Brampton South Prabmeet Sarkaria, and Dr. Naveed Mohammad, President and CEO, William Osler Health System, to announce a significant investment in Brampton’s healthcare system. This move supports the City’s Fair Deal for Brampton advocacy campaign, which calls for closing the gap in health care funding and ending hallway medicine.
William Osler Health System will be receiving up to 87 new patient beds to help alleviate hospital capacity pressures and reduce wait times. This includes 41 hospital beds at Brampton Civic Hospital.
The Ontario government is building on its $2.8 billion COVID-19 fall preparedness plan by making additional investments to add more beds in hospitals and alternate health facilities across the province. According to the Province, more beds available will help reduce surgical backlogs and improve access to care during COVID-19.
BackgroundIn December 2019, 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. In January 2020, Brampton City Council unanimously passed a motion to declare a
Health Care Emergency in Brampton.
The City has undertaken many initiatives to request more funding and support for Brampton’s health care system. These include presenting to Brampton’s elected representatives and at the annual
Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) Conference and advocating to the
Provincial government through the Pre-Budget Submission process. The City is also promoting the
#FairDealForBrampton health care advocacy campaign to build awareness and support for Brampton’s health care concerns.
Quotes“Brampton’s health care system has been overcrowded and underfunded for too long and the hallway medicine crisis has been compounded by the pandemic. We are in dire need of support from the Province, and we welcome this positive step in the right direction for our community as part of the Province’s fall preparedness plan, especially as Peel is now in the second wave of COVID-19. These new hospital beds will improve the access and efficiency of care at Brampton Civic as we pursue a new hospital in the north west of the City. I welcome the Premier’s commitment today to get the phase 2 expansion of Osler’s Peel Memorial site built to improve healthcare for Brampton residents.”
- Patrick Brown, Mayor, City of Brampton“Our community deserves equitable access to health care. We have advocated and the Ontario government has helped alleviate some of the pressures our city continues to face. Brampton is the fastest-growing large city in Canada, and we require continued Provincial partnerships and support to bring our residents the care they need.”
- Rowena Santos, Chair, Community Services; Regional Councillor, Wards 1 & 5, City of Brampton “New hospital beds are crucial to ending hallway health care. Brampton Civic is currently our community’s only hospital, and while this is an important step, we will continue to demand adequate health care for our city from the Province.”
- Charmaine Williams, Vice-Chair, Community Services; City Councillor, Wards 7 & 8, City of Brampton“City staff continue to work closely with Council to ensure Brampton gets a fair deal on health care from our government partners. We are proud of this investment in our city and know that our hard work and advocacy must continue in order to improve health care and quality of life in Brampton.
- David Barrick, Chief Administrative Officer, City of Brampton