Milton Hospital has not seen a substantial expansion since the mid-1980's when the Town's population was less than 30,000. Milton's current population is approximately 80,000 (Spring 2009).
Let the campaign begin – Group launches community campaign in support of hospital expansion
The massive increase of residents to Milton, combined with the town’s unique proportion of young and growing families, requires a hospital that expands along with the community, according to a local volunteer group committed to securing that expansion.
“I use the analogy that Milton (District) Hospital is our community mother,” said Cari Kovachik- MacNeil, co-chair of Friends of Milton Hospital, during the official launch of the group’s ‘Help Milton Hospital Grow’ campaign yesterday on the hospital grounds.
“Our community of Milton is growing, we need our mother to grow with us,” she said.
The group’s campaign is dedicated to garnering support among the community for the hospital redevelopment and expansion, and showing that support to the Province, from which approval and majority funding are needed for Halton Healthcare Services (HHS) to implement its master plan for hospital growth.
With $25,000 support from the Town of Milton, the group will hand out buttons among the community and ask residents to sign postcards directed to Ontario Health Minister David Caplan asking for approval for the hospital expansion.
The current hospital is designed and funded to operate for 32,000 residents, but Milton now has around 80,000 residents. The hospital currently has 68 beds, but can only expand with existing resources and space to 86 beds, which means it will reach capacity by next year, according to HHS.
One of the most visible impacts of Milton’s residential growth on the hospital is in the maternity ward. Only 216 babies were delivered at the hospital in 2000, just before Milton’s current growth spurt began, but that number is around 1,000 now. In 2016/17, the hospital expects to deliver more than 2,000 babies, a percentage increase far outstripping the town’s overall residential growth.
“We need it (the expansion), not just we want it,” said Milton Mayor Gord Krantz.
The mayor said he understands the local community will have to pick up a percentage of the expansion costs, generally estimated at 30 per cent, and he said he expects some of that money will have to come from the property tax base.
“It’s going to have to happen, there’s no doubt in my mind, whether it’s from the Regional or Town side (of property taxes),” Krantz said.
For more information and to sign an online postcard in support of the expansion of Milton District Hospital, MiltonSearch.com invites you to visit the official Friends of Milton Hospital website.
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