Coalition “disappointed” as Kingston Mayor breaks tie vote on new hospital, tipping balance in favour of P3 privatization
Kingston , Ontario – Final preparations are underway for a community-wide vote to be held tomorrow in Kingston where, weather permitting, the Kingston Health Coalition expects thousands of local residents to cast their ballot as to whether they want the 30-year P3 privatization of the community’s new hospital or whether they want to support the project as a public non-profit hospital. More than 180 residents from Kingston and outlying areas are preparing to staff voting stations set up at 55 local businesses across the community. Workplace votes are underway today.
Health Coalition spokespeople are pleased to have successfully created the debate about the role of for-profit multinational corporations in the new hospital development in Kingston, but are disappointed in the close result in last night’s Council meeting. The Mayor’s vote were enough to tip the balance and defeat a motion that would have seen Council send a letter to the provincial government asking them to remove the 30-year privatization of hospital facility management, financing and maintenance from the redevelopment plan.
“We are disappointed with the result of the vote on one hand,” said coalition chair Ross Sutherland. “But we are really pleased that we have been able to successfully start a serious democratic debate about the privatized P3 hospital proposal.”
“The privatized P3 proposal would bind our new hospital into 30-year long contracts with a for-profit multinational consortium for the facility management and maintenance and allow for additional privatization proposals to be included into the long-term contracts in the future,” he noted. “It deserves close public scrutiny and much more public accountability than has been afforded so far and we are pleased that Council started that process in its meetings this week.”
This week in City Council, the Coalition reported that the publicly-reported costs for the new hospital have already increased over the last three months by up to $50 million and the new hospital is 6 – 8 months late. All the privatized P3 hospital projects have seen significant cost increases and higher financing costs, and all of them have been significantly later than announced.
“The feedback we are getting from the community is that people are concerned about the long-term privatized service contracts and the for-profit multinational consortium’s involvement in the financing of the hospital,” said Sutherland. “We expect a huge turnout tomorrow with thousands coming out to vote and more than 180 volunteers staffing voting stations all across our community.”
“The evidence shows that P3 privatization costs more and the higher costs would siphon millions of public dollars away from needed health care services to the for-profit consortium,” he concluded. “There are better alternatives that would ensure that the new hospital is built without long-term privatization contracts and financing. We will continue to advocate with the provincial government to have these long-term contracts removed from the deal and we look forward to the final vote count and the community’s say in the process.”
