Innisfil still doesn’t know the exact amount it will have to contribute to bring the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) south campus to its community, but the rough estimate is big enough to send someone into shock.
The local component required to build the hospital could be between $70 million and $210 million, RVH president and CEO Gail Hunt told councillors at a recent meeting.
The town wouldn’t be on the hook for all of it, she said.
“I’m not trying to scare you, because local share is made up of many things,” said Hunt, including municipal contributions, philanthropy and likely some debt servicing. “One of the key milestones in order to advance through (the) process is to demonstrate that a local share of funding will be there when it's needed.”
Local funding is supposed to be capped at 10 per cent. Officially, the Ontario government covers 90 per cent of the cost of new hospital construction, but Hunt said that figure is actually closer to 70 per cent when all is said and done, with local sources often picking up costs such as furniture, parking and price escalations.
The topic had been previously discussed by Innisfil Mayor Lynn Dollin and Health Minister Sylvia Jones on at least two occasions, with Dollin stressing a 10 per cent commitment from the municipality would be arduous on ratepayers, but likely doable.
Hearing the 30 per cent figure for the first time during the delegation at the Oct. 11 meeting, had Dollin concerned.
“She was adamant that communities must put in their local share,” Dollin said of Jones. “’You got to have skin in the game,’ was her comment to me. But to me, skin in the game at 10 per cent is fine, but at 30 per cent it is a difficult challenge for us.”
The total cost to build the south campus was estimated at $700 million in 2021.
“Now that's a huge ask of (the) province and donors and our municipalities, but … so many thousands are depending on us to make this happen,” Hunt said.
RVH's expansion plans also include doubling in size the existing campus on Georgian Drive in north-end Barrie. That portion of the project carries an estimated cost of $2.5 billion in 2021 figures.
The south campus in Innisfil, meanwhile, has been in the works since 2017, with the property near the intersection of Innisfil Beach Road and Simcoe County Road 4 (Yonge Street) being selected about two years ago. A Minister’s Zoning Order (MZO) to fast-track the development of the site soon followed at the request of town council.
Getting another commitment – financial this time – from the town is essential for the project to keep moving forward.
“What makes the difference with the ministry is to see that a community is committed and wants a project to happen,” Hunt said. “Otherwise, if it’s just hospital staff pushing it, we don’t carry a lot of weight in that regard.”
Whatever amount the town is required to commit, RVH doesn’t need it tomorrow, Hunt added. Rather, because of the way the project will unfold, money is required to built up over time, so the hospital can draw down from that amount when needed.
The 83-acre parcel of land would, within a decade, house a “health hub” that focuses primarily on outpatient care; in 20 years, plans show a full-service hospital with an emergency room on the campus.
RVH board of directors first vice-chair Jason Teal told councillors the hospital will be a game changer for the community, attracting thousands of high-quality jobs and large contracts for vendors.
“My day job is a commercial lender so I see major projects get financed become reality and impact the communities where they develop,” he said. “I know that RVH's major expansion will have enormous economic impacts for Innisfil and this region.”
Dollin likened the decision to support the south campus to the creation of Innisfil Beach Park.
“I think back to the council who had a sticker to purchase a farm on Innisfil Beach Road next to the lake and how much it would have hurt to pay for it at that time,” she said. “There’s not been a council since then that hasn’t been thankful for that group for making that investment in the future.”
Council unanimously passed a motion that called on staff to come back to the table with both the town’s recommended contribution for the project and options on how to achieve that goal.
