Headwaters Health Care Centre is among several community hospitals, and other services, that find themselves disadvantaged financially because the provincial funding formula makes no allowance for "high growth areas," county council was told last Thursday.

Hospital CEO/President Bob Baynham and Board Chair John McDermid presented three documents at the council's regular meeting, to show the disparity in funding between "High Growth Communities and other communities across the province."

In an interview, Mr. Baynham said he was not in a position to recommend any action plan, except to the extent of asking the County and its municipalities to forward resolutions to the province.

The sole purpose of bringing the data to the county, he said, was to increase public awareness of the problems facing the health-care sector. "Headwaters Board wants to ensure that the community is aware of the issue of systemic under funding for our community."

Three health-related organizations had prepared the reports on which the data were based: The GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance; The Central West Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) Integrated Health Services Plan; and the Ontario Hospital Association, in "Exploring the Impact of High Population Growth in Ontario."

Those reports showed that the Central West LHIN has the lowest per capita funding of any high growth community although it has the highest rate of growth. In a further analysis, health services in Dufferin-Caledon are at the low end of funding within its LHIN.

Included in the data, Central West LHIN covers a population area of 700,000, and has only two hospitals (with four sites): Headwaters, and William Osler in Brampton.

But the problem goes beyond hospital infrastructure, according to the reports. In terms of healthcare professionals, Central West has 45.81 family physicians per 100,000 population, compared with 84.23 provincewide, placing it 13th among the LHINs. Similarly, it is 14th in specialists, 14th in nurses, 9th in pharmacists, 8th in physiotherapists, 10th in occupational therapists, 8th in dieticians, and 2nd in midwives.

Because of the "acrossthe board" funding formula, per capita health-care spending in high growth areas tends to decrease. At the time of the studies, in late 2006, per capita spending ranged between $679.67 and $3,024.69 throughout the province's 14 LHINs.

Central West had the $679.67, placing at the bottom of the all the LHINs. "That's a seven-fold difference. We are at the bottom, and it's a long way to the top," Mr. Baynham told the council.

But it could get worse instead of better, according to a reading of the data. Funding for the local LHIN is not keeping pace with the increasing hospital taxes collected from its residents. And, between 2006 and 2011, it's predicted that this LHIN would have a 22.8 per cent growth in the over-75 population - the highest in the province.

The solution, he said outside the meeting, would be "a growth-based funding formula, and some kind of catch-up for the current situation."

"The reports are all in the public domain," said Mr. Baynham, "but not everyone gets to see them."

Further south, the GTA/905 Healthcare Alliance is teamed with the United Way in its efforts to make the public aware of the problem, and possibly to foster a solution.

Here, Headwaters is more of less on its own in seeking public awareness, and has been meeting with various municipalities.