Hospitals Belong Where People Live!
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Hospitals belong where people live. Residents of Windsor, Ontario are left with no choice but to take their healthcare into their own hands by launching a legal campaign to keep hospital services within the region's most densely populated neighbourhoods.
Both Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) campuses (Met & Ouellette) are to be replaced by a single regional mega-hospital located on active farmland 13 km (8 miles) from the city centre. This will make hospital-based services much less accessible for tens of thousands of Windsor’s 200,000 residents.
Local officials have used mixed messages and strategically limited public input and discussion about the greenfield mega-plan. This has misled many residents into believing they are gaining an additional hospital rather than losing two. Join our fight to give our residents a voice in this process. We fully believe in the need for updated local healthcare infrastructures. However, a decision this monumental, which will affect our healthcare for generations to come, should result from a process that is completely transparent and inclusive.
We need your support.
When you donate, no matter how large or small, you are raising your hand (publicly or anonymously) that you believe that hospitals belong where people live.
This satellite image shows where the proposed mega-hospital is to be built:
More about the issue
The proposed WRH mega-hospital is part of a larger development scheme: the Sandwich South Secondary Plan. The mega-hospital is to be built on what is currently active farmland adjacent to Windsor's airport. The 60-acre facility is being used to justify the residential and commercial development of a further 1,000 acres of prime agricultural land.
Yet, when you look at current statistics, the need for a new subdivision outside of the city core is not supported: the local population is aging and economic growth is stagnant. Other communities are tackling their healthcare infrastructure modernization by taking advantage of existing urban infrastructure. While the mega-plan may temporarily benefit a few developers, it will increase Windsor’s long-term residential tax burden and create barriers to healthcare for many of the city's most vulnerable people.
Developing Sandwich South also disregards Windsor's Official Plan and Ontario's Provincial Policy Statement. It creates further urban sprawl at a time when other municipalities are shifting to implement more environmentally responsible planning policies.
Since 2013, fact-based concerns raised by Citizens For An Accountable Mega-Hospital Planning Process (CAMPP), along with community groups that include the Ontario Health Coalition, and a growing number of individuals willing to speak out publicly, have been ignored.
Together, we have been pleading with local decision-makers to develop a legitimately responsible, inclusive and transparent planning process. This destructive scheme will affect the region’s health, economic and environmental well-being for generations to come.
While hospital officials encourage staff to express their support, the public is largely unaware that medical personnel are prevented from voicing negative concerns. There’s no debate about the need for updated local health care infrastructures. Residents in outlying municipalities also need and deserve accessible healthcare, though the solution does not lie in pitting county residents against city residents. There are better ways to improve Essex County residents' access to healthcare services that do not involve gutting the city core.
CAMPP's LPAT appeal and beyond
In October, 2019 the LPAT heard our legal challenge of Windsor City Council`s August 13, 2018 decision to greenlight the proposed mega-facility. Twenty-eight organizations and individuals received permission to join the appeal as participants. On December 3, 2019 the LPAT Tribunal (presided over by a single adjudicator) summarily dismissed our case.
On December 18, 2019 we announced our intention to appeal the LPAT's Decision based on four key issues:
-Keeping emergency hospital services where people live
-No consultation occurred with First Nations
-Climate change was not considered
-Implausible employment growth projections were used to determine land needs
We anticipate incurring more than $100,000 in legal fees to win this challenge. We expect a long fight.
A note to health care professionals and other supporters who may need to remain anonymous: We thank those of you who have supported our efforts but who could not publicly come forward. We want to assure those of you who will financially contribute to this important campaign, that all anonymous contributions will remain completely confidential.
To learn more details about the issue and the legal appeal, including current population, health care and economic data, please visit our website.
-Eric K. Gillespie: Our lawyer; he is a leading municipal and environmental lawyer based in Toronto. He has been counsel in many precedent-setting legal challenges including the Walkerton Water Inquiry, as well as Canada’s largest environmental class-action (Pearson/Smith v. Inco) and the ongoing G20 class action up to the Supreme Court of Canada. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto.
-Jennifer Keesmaat: Our expert witness; she the former Chief Planner of the City of Toronto, a recipient of the Canadian Institute of Planners’ highest Presidents Award, and a member of the International Panel of Experts, Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority.
-Philippa von Ziegenweidt: General media inquiries. Philippa is a former forensic accountant and financial analyst; she is one of several founding members of Citizens for an Accountable Mega-Hospital Planning Process.
"Given the legitimacy of the concerns raised by the public ... the duty to consider, address and engage concerns regarding the planning process, the planning rationale, mobility, access and equity are insufficiently met to satisfy even the most basic interpretations of the expectations from community engagement..." -- Jennifer Keesmaat
Both Windsor Regional Hospital (WRH) campuses (Met & Ouellette) are to be replaced by a single regional mega-hospital located on active farmland 13 km (8 miles) from the city centre. This will make hospital-based services much less accessible for tens of thousands of Windsor’s 200,000 residents.
Local officials have used mixed messages and strategically limited public input and discussion about the greenfield mega-plan. This has misled many residents into believing they are gaining an additional hospital rather than losing two. Join our fight to give our residents a voice in this process. We fully believe in the need for updated local healthcare infrastructures. However, a decision this monumental, which will affect our healthcare for generations to come, should result from a process that is completely transparent and inclusive.
We need your support.
When you donate, no matter how large or small, you are raising your hand (publicly or anonymously) that you believe that hospitals belong where people live.
This satellite image shows where the proposed mega-hospital is to be built:
More about the issue
The proposed WRH mega-hospital is part of a larger development scheme: the Sandwich South Secondary Plan. The mega-hospital is to be built on what is currently active farmland adjacent to Windsor's airport. The 60-acre facility is being used to justify the residential and commercial development of a further 1,000 acres of prime agricultural land.
Yet, when you look at current statistics, the need for a new subdivision outside of the city core is not supported: the local population is aging and economic growth is stagnant. Other communities are tackling their healthcare infrastructure modernization by taking advantage of existing urban infrastructure. While the mega-plan may temporarily benefit a few developers, it will increase Windsor’s long-term residential tax burden and create barriers to healthcare for many of the city's most vulnerable people.
Developing Sandwich South also disregards Windsor's Official Plan and Ontario's Provincial Policy Statement. It creates further urban sprawl at a time when other municipalities are shifting to implement more environmentally responsible planning policies.
Since 2013, fact-based concerns raised by Citizens For An Accountable Mega-Hospital Planning Process (CAMPP), along with community groups that include the Ontario Health Coalition, and a growing number of individuals willing to speak out publicly, have been ignored.
Together, we have been pleading with local decision-makers to develop a legitimately responsible, inclusive and transparent planning process. This destructive scheme will affect the region’s health, economic and environmental well-being for generations to come.
While hospital officials encourage staff to express their support, the public is largely unaware that medical personnel are prevented from voicing negative concerns. There’s no debate about the need for updated local health care infrastructures. Residents in outlying municipalities also need and deserve accessible healthcare, though the solution does not lie in pitting county residents against city residents. There are better ways to improve Essex County residents' access to healthcare services that do not involve gutting the city core.
CAMPP's LPAT appeal and beyond
In October, 2019 the LPAT heard our legal challenge of Windsor City Council`s August 13, 2018 decision to greenlight the proposed mega-facility. Twenty-eight organizations and individuals received permission to join the appeal as participants. On December 3, 2019 the LPAT Tribunal (presided over by a single adjudicator) summarily dismissed our case.
On December 18, 2019 we announced our intention to appeal the LPAT's Decision based on four key issues:
-Keeping emergency hospital services where people live
-No consultation occurred with First Nations
-Climate change was not considered
-Implausible employment growth projections were used to determine land needs
We anticipate incurring more than $100,000 in legal fees to win this challenge. We expect a long fight.
A note to health care professionals and other supporters who may need to remain anonymous: We thank those of you who have supported our efforts but who could not publicly come forward. We want to assure those of you who will financially contribute to this important campaign, that all anonymous contributions will remain completely confidential.
To learn more details about the issue and the legal appeal, including current population, health care and economic data, please visit our website.
-Eric K. Gillespie: Our lawyer; he is a leading municipal and environmental lawyer based in Toronto. He has been counsel in many precedent-setting legal challenges including the Walkerton Water Inquiry, as well as Canada’s largest environmental class-action (Pearson/Smith v. Inco) and the ongoing G20 class action up to the Supreme Court of Canada. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto.
-Jennifer Keesmaat: Our expert witness; she the former Chief Planner of the City of Toronto, a recipient of the Canadian Institute of Planners’ highest Presidents Award, and a member of the International Panel of Experts, Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority.
-Philippa von Ziegenweidt: General media inquiries. Philippa is a former forensic accountant and financial analyst; she is one of several founding members of Citizens for an Accountable Mega-Hospital Planning Process.
"Given the legitimacy of the concerns raised by the public ... the duty to consider, address and engage concerns regarding the planning process, the planning rationale, mobility, access and equity are insufficiently met to satisfy even the most basic interpretations of the expectations from community engagement..." -- Jennifer Keesmaat
Organizer
Philippa Von Ziegenweidt
Organizer
Windsor, ON