Wrecker's ball looms over Peel Memorial Hospital
Report's grim prognosis for mothballed hospital threatens to fuel battle
The replacement of Peel Memorial Hospital with Brampton Civic Hospital has been controversial, with some residents concerned about patient care.
January 09, 2008
Prithi Yelaja
Staff Reporter
Peel Memorial Hospital is too outdated and rundown to house patient services, says a consultant hired to consider the fate of the 83-year-old mothballed facility.
The logical conclusion – that it would be better to tear it down and start afresh – could ignite a new blaze in the firestorm over health care in Brampton, as the province prepares to meet with local residents tonight for their input on the hospital's future.
The 7:30 public meeting at the Pearson Convention Centre will be residents' first look at the report.
"It says the buildings really are beyond their life cycle and are no longer able to be used," said Joe McReynolds, chair of the Central West Local Health Integration Network, the provincially created body that commissioned the report.
The next step is to compare the costs of demolishing and rebuilding the hospital with refurbishing it, though the report suggests the cost of renovating would be exorbitant, he added.
"No decision has been made one way or the other yet. I'm sure we'll see a strong turnout (tonight) . ... It's been the only hospital for the community for many, many years, so you can understand why there's a strong alliance and a lot of personal connection to that hospital."
The emotion surrounding the fate of Peel Memorial centres on concerns about patient care at the brand-new Brampton Civic Hospital, built by a controversial public-private partnership, and the common belief that fast-growing Brampton needs two hospitals.
Many had hoped to see Peel Memorial reopened in a year or two. At the very least, the report puts that prospect in the distant future.
Some fear the Lynch St. site, prime downtown real estate, will be sold. But McReynolds rejected that notion. "That site will be for health services. That has been said by the premier, by the health minister, and it's certainly the position of the local health integration network.
"The key question is what services are needed and what can be accommodated on that particular site ...," he said. "We certainly have a need for more ambulatory care in the community. I've heard suggestions a birthing centre may be appropriate, because we have one of the highest birth rates in the province.
"So we want to hear these kinds of things; then we'll be in a better position to decide whether or not any of these buildings can be renovated or whether it's more economical to look at the development of new buildings."
Ontario has 14 local health integration networks, which replaced district health councils last April. In setting them up, the province returned more control over health-care decisions to local communities. The Central West network will make recommendations on Peel Memorial to Health Minister George Smitherman.
According to the report on Peel Memorial, prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers, "the buildings (except for possibly the Kennedy Wing) are at the end of their useful life for the purposes of contemporary health care services."
Based on a review of 13 previous studies of the old hospital's equipment, mechanical and electrical systems, the report concludes they are "in poor condition (and) do not meet current codes and regulations." It also notes "no major upgrades have occurred in the last 10 years; all building systems and components are original to the build date of each building. The approach has been to patch and maintain only."
Any future renovations would have to comply with all codes and regulations, the report points out.
Opened Feb. 2, 1925, with some wings added later, the 366-bed hospital was replaced by Brampton Civic last October. Just two months later, Smitherman sent in a supervisor to look into complaints about long emergency wait times and a shortage of staff, which some people believe contributed to two untimely deaths at the new facility.
Smitherman, who was not available for comment yesterday, has said the government will redevelop Peel Memorial after public consultations. One option the government has considered, according to a report released by the Ontario Health Coalition this week, is to build a 112-bed continuing-care facility on the site.
"We anticipated doing some redevelopment at that site because it is an older facility. That was always part of the plan," Smitherman's spokesperson, Laurel Ostfield, said yesterday.
Redevelopment is slated to start in 2009-10, though Ostfield said it would be premature to release the budgeted costs until plans are finalized. She declined to confirm whether it would be a P3 project.