B C H E A L T H C O A L I T I O N

COUNCIL OF CANADIANS

For immediate release

April 7, 2005

Abbotsford privatized hospital - part of a global pattern of P3 flops

Vancouver, B.C. – Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre Public Private Partnership is identified as one of a hundred failed P3 projects in a report released today by health coalitions across Canada..

“Globally, P3s have been devastating for communities,” says Tara Scurr, B.C.-Yukon organizer for the Council of Canadians. “P3s are associated with cost overruns, delays, design and construction flaws, quality problems, and service cuts. B.C. is flirting with a model of health delivery that has failed in Britain, Australia, and many other countries.”

In 2004, the contract to finance and administer the hospital for the next 30 years was awarded to the sole bidder – Access Health Abbotsford.

The problems with the Abbotsford P3 are mounting:

The total project cost estimate has risen 94% to 1.4 billion, up from 720 million
Construction costs rose from the original $211 million in 2001 to $355 million in January 2005
New evidence shows that a public hospital would be as much as $30 million cheaper compared to the cost of the privatized hospital

“This isn’t just a bad deal for health care, it’s a bad business deal,” says Richard Neal, research analyst.

“Private health care investors expect profits in the range of 12 – 20% annually, and those profits generally come at the expense of quality patient care.”

“P3s don’t represent additional funding for public services. These are loans, not investments. They’re just a more expensive form of debt that must be repaid,” says Neal.

Between them, governments in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec are actively planning more than a dozen privatized hospitals – to be financed, designed, and administered through public-private partnerships that are guaranteed windfalls for profit-driven corporations.

In British Columbia, the Vancouver Hospital Ambulatory Care Centre is also a Public Private Partnership project, and there may be more health P3s on the way.

For more information:

Richard Neal, Research Analyst; 604-879-5149

Tara Scurr, Council of Canadians; 604-688-8846

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