Bevilacqua unfazed by developer’s hospital ad

Yorkregion.com
March 7, 2014
By Adam Martin-Robbins

A non-profit group that spearheaded efforts to bring a hospital to Vaughan, before it was squeezed out, is attacking the provincial government for moving too slowly toward completing the project.

And it is proposing to fill the gap, by building “top-tier health care services” on city-owned land around the future hospital, at Jane Street and Major Mackenzie Drive.

The Vaughan Health Campus of Care (VHCC), headed by influential real estate developer Michael DeGasperis, has launched a campaign, in local media and online, to get its message out.

“Our current disjointed system has many Vaughan residents commuting long distances and paying exorbitant parking fees and travel costs to see a specialist, receive rehabilitation for an injury or have a test done. We think that’s wrong and that it’s got to change,” Mr. DeGasperis wrote in an e-mail. “This land is sitting empty. The infrastructure should have been completed and we should be building now. We don’t have to wait.”

That is, essentially, the same message being delivered in VHCC’s recent advertisement in The Citizen as well as on its website, vaughanhealthcare.com, and Facebook page.

Mr. DeGasperis said VHCC’s vision is, as it has always been, to “build a cluster of complementary health care services that would potentially include: seniors care, long-term care, cancer screening, mental health supports, cardiology, educational facilities (and) diagnostic services like CT scans, MRIs, radiology, and physiotherapy.”

“This way Vaughan won’t just be getting a hospital, but a broader campus of care that would be a first in Canada and would make patients in our area some of the best served and cared for anywhere,” he wrote.

He is adamant that VHCC can achieve its goal, without taking legal action, despite the fact city representatives have said the agreement struck with the non-profit group, when the 87-acres of land was purchased in 2009, is dead.

“We encourage more (people) from the community and our council to join us in our mission and accomplishing our goals, on behalf of the citizens of Vaughan,”  Mr. DeGasperis wrote.

Meanwhile, Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua said he isn’t fazed by the VHCC’s efforts to discredit the work being done to get the hospital up and running.

“The advertising doesn’t really change much in substance, in the sense that we’re working very hard to make sure the Mackenzie Vaughan hospital is built,” he said. “We have, of course, the support of the province, the approval of the province so the shovels are going to go in the ground in 2015. “

The city is, reportedly, close to inking a long-term lease deal with Mackenzie Health for the 14.7 hectares (44 acres) of land set aside specifically for the hospital.

“The reality is that the land is owned by the citizens of Vaughan and no special interest group owns the land,” Mr. Bevilacqua said. “It is being paid for by the citizens and that is who owns the land. And the fiduciary responsibility for that land lies with city council.” 

Vaughan Liberal MPP Steven Del Duca echoed much of what the mayor had to say.

“The government is on track. We are delivering this hospital as per the commitment and the timeline that we have always talked about,” he said. “I am also delighted to be working closely with the folks at Mackenzie Health and the folks at the City of Vaughan. Everyone is working very, very hard to make sure that we deliver this project for the community because it is deserved and it is much needed.”

Mackenzie Health representatives declined to comment.

The campus of care group has close ties to the Conservatives, both provincially and federally.

Vaughan PC candidate Peter Meffe served as the organization’s vice-president of planning while Vaughan Conservative MP Julian Fantino helped the VHCC land a controversial $10-million grant from the federal government in 2011. But Mr. DeGasperis denies the VHCC is trying to discredit the provincial Liberal government in advance of a possible spring election.

“We’re not interested in playing political games,” he wrote.

For his part, Mr. Del Duca said it’s inappropriate for anyone to use the hospital to try to score political points.

“I’ve long been on record as saying the hospital is the kind of issue that, by definition, is supposed to bring a community together. This is not the kind of project that should, in any way shape or form, be dealt with in a partisan way,” he said.