Council voted unanimously, following a special closed-door meeting Monday, to retain ownership of the entire 87-acre property on the north side of Major Mackenzie Drive, across from Canada’s Wonderland, and to renegotiate the agreement it struck with the campus of care group in 2009.
“I think that because of some of the static and noise that existed on this file in the past, I felt it was necessary to clarify some fundamental issues,” Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua said. “And one of them is that the citizens of Vaughan are, in fact, the most important players in building the hospital and the land is actually land that belongs to the citizens of Vaughan and we wanted to get that message out there loud and clear.”
The city agreed to put up $80 million to purchase and develop the property as a health care campus, complete with a hospital and ancillary services, two years ago. It then introduced a special tax levy to raise the funds.
Under an agreement struck at the time, ownership of the property was to be transferred to the Vaughan Health Campus of Care, which was spearheading the project, when planning for the future hospital reached the third stage of the five-stage provincial approval process.
A short time later, however, the province put York Central Hospital in charge of planning the future hospital.
Still, the agreement between the city and the campus of care group remained in place and the organization began plowing ahead with planning ancillary health services for the remaining 47 acres, which could include a long-term care facility, a hospice or hotel, a community centre, a medical school and a pharmacy.
The resolution passed by council Monday commits to continuing that work under the direction of a new, restructured campus of care group.
The terms of the restructuring are not spelled out in the resolution.
The current executive of the campus of care group is made up of developer Michael DeGasperis, who is chairperson; vice-chairperson Lou Greenbaum; secretary Quinto Annibale and treasurer Robert Bradbury. In addition, well-known businessman Sam Ciccolini, Mr. Bevilacqua and West Woodbridge Councillor Tony Carella, among others, act as directors.
Mr. DeGasperis could not be reached for an interview, but stated in an e-mailed statement the organization is happy with the direction in which council is moving.
“We are extremely pleased to see that city council has reaffirmed the city’s support in developing a campus of care for the citizens of Vaughan and we look forward to working with the city and YCH (York Central Hospital) to move forward together, as partners, to achieve the realization of a hospital and a campus of care on the 87-acre site,” he wrote. “We are also pleased that council continues to recognize the important role the Vaughan Health Campus of Care plays in being responsible for the development of the site as well as the additional health services.”
The city will have to reach an agreement with York Central for the 40-acre parcel that has been earmarked for the future hospital.
There are a number of possible arrangements that could be worked out including a long-term lease.
Council also requested, in its resolution, that the Vaughan Health Care Foundation, of which Mr. Ciccolini is chairperson and Mr. DeGasperis a board member, “devote its fundraising activities exclusively for a new hospital in Vaughan.”
Currently, the foundation has a mandate to raise money for the hospital, the campus of care, Vaughan Community Health Centre, Vaughan Seniors Care Services and, potentially, a host of other health care services.
“As a city, and the citizens of Vaughan feel, a hospital is the most important goal that we’re trying to achieve,” Mr. Bevilacqua said.
Mr. Ciccolini could not be reached for comment by press time Wednesday.
Both the campus of care group and the foundation have come under fire from some councillors, city hall watchdogs and most recently, Vaughan MPP Greg Sorbara.
He sent a letter to the mayor nearly two weeks ago calling on the city to retain control of the land.
Mr. Sorbara also noted the need to change the governance structures at the campus of care and at the Vaughan Health Care Foundation and said the latter should focus solely on raising money for the hospital.
Mr. Sorbara called council’s resolution a “first step” and said time will tell if the issues will be addressed appropriately.
“The proof will be in the pudding,” he said. “That is to say, there needs to be a restructuring that creates accountability and transparency for all of those lands and there needs to be a restructuring of the foundation organization to link it directly to hospital construction and operation.
“Right now, I think, the city’s resolution puts us on that course but there’s a lot of work to do yet. I mean nothing has changed as of today, except an expression of the city’s intention to reshape those organizations.”
Although the resolution addresses many of the issues raised by Mr. Sorbara, Mr. Bevilacqua claimed the influential Liberal MPP’s letter had little to do with council’s move.
“These are issues that have been evolving for awhile now and I just felt it was necessary for us to move on it,” he said. “These issues were raised earlier in council as well but I felt it was important to formalize it and to make sure everybody understands that now it’s time to get the roles and responsibilities correct.”
Maple/Kleinburg Councillor Marilyn Iafrate, who began raising concerns about the campus of care group and the foundation back in January, was happy with the resolution.
“I was really pleased with the outcome,” she said. “I’m pleased overall that we can finally move forward and everybody’s in agreement that we need to re-evaluate the (land) agreement to better reflect the current state of affairs with the hospital and who is running it. And, just as importantly, ensuring that the city retains ownership and direction of its investment.”
http://www.yorkregion.com/news/article/1042785--vaughan-votes-to-retain-hospital-lands
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