Public Opinion Survey: Consultation on Siting Options For the Brampton Memorial Hospital Campus Of the William Osler Health Centre

Half (50%) of Brampton residents feel that the quality of health care in their area is worse than five years ago - 15 percent say it is much worse. Under four in ten (39%) say that the health care system has improved, and just 7 percent think it is much better. One in ten (11%) are unsure.

Among Brampton residents who feel that the quality of health care is worse, more than one-third (37%) point to cutbacks in government funding for health care as the primary reason behind the decline. Lesser proportions of this segment of the population cite increased waiting times for services (11%), Premier Mike Harris or government (7%), the failure of services to keep pace with the growth of the population (7%), or fewer doctors and/or specialists (5%), nurses (4%), and staff (4%) as the main cause of the decline of health care in the area.

Among Brampton residents who feel that the quality of health care is better than five years ago, one in ten (10%) cite an increase in the number of doctors and/or specialists and another 10 percent mention improved accessibility and reduced waiting time as the primary reason for the improvement. Lesser proportions of this segment of the population report improved technology (7%), increased government funding (6%), a greater number of clinics (6%), better services (6%), expanded services and more hospital beds (4%), or higher awareness of the health care system (4%) to be the main reason behind the improvement of health care in the area.

Quality of Specific Aspects of Hospital Care

Of those items tested, medical services provided to patients in hospitals is the only specific aspect of hospital care, which receives a good quality rating from a majority of Brampton residents. Almost three-quarters (74%) of the population consider patient medical services to be of good or very good quality, although just 13 percent feel they are very good. Under one-quarter (23%) say these services are poor or very poor, and just 4 percent say they are very poor.

There is no consensus among Brampton residents on the accessibility of hospital medical services. One in two rate accessibility to timely and appropriate medical services at the hospitals in their area as good or very good. Comparatively, an equal proportion (48%) feel there is poor or very poor accessibility in this respect and 11 percent think it is very poor.

Brampton residents are also split over the quality of hospital care as regards the number of doctors working in hospitals, as equal proportions provide a good or very good quality rating (46%) and poor quality rating (46%) on this element.

Half (50%) of respondents consider the quality of hospital care to be poor or very poor in terms of the number of hospital nurses, although it should be noted that only 9 percent think it is very poor. Slightly more than four in ten (43%) provide a good or very good rating of the number of hospital nurses, but only 5 percent say this aspect of hospital care is very good.

Six in ten (60%) Brampton residents feel that there is poor or very poor hospital care in their area as regards the number of hospital beds, and more than one in ten (12%) feel it is very poor. Only a third (33%) of the population provide a good or very good quality rating to the number of hospital beds, and just 3 percent provide a very good rating.

Just under two-thirds (64%) of the Brampton population feels that the quality of hospital care in terms of waiting times for non-emergency medical procedures is poor or very poor, and it is notable that almost a quarter (23%) say it is very poor. Less than one-third (31%) of residents provide this aspect of hospital care with a good or very good rating, and just 4 percent think it is very good.

Clearly, the lowest-rated element of hospital care is the waiting time for emergency room service. More than three-quarters (77%) of Brampton residents rate the waiting time in hospital emergency rooms as poor or very poor. Furthermore, four in ten (40%) feel this aspect of hospital care is very poor. Only 20 percent provide a good or very good quality rating to the waiting time in emergency rooms, and just 4 percent provide a very good rating.

Awareness of Hospital Development Plans

General Unspecified Awareness

More than half (54%) of Brampton residents indicate awareness of "recent or upcoming plans for the Brampton campus of the William Osler Health Centre (formerly known as the Peel Memorial Hospital)".

Among those reporting they are aware of hospital development plans, the most frequently mentioned plans for the William Osler Health Centre are building a new hospital (41%) and renovating the current hospital (32%). Less frequently mentioned plans include expanding existing hospitals (16%), building a new hospital at a new site and closing the current hospital (8%), increasing hospital funding (6%), building a new hospital and maintaining the current hospital (5%), and building a new hospital on the current site in place of the existing hospital (4%).

Aided Awareness

Upon being informed that "the Brampton campus of the William Osler Health Centre has been asked by the provincial government to make a decision about the development of a new hospital - either extensively redevelop the existing hospital site to effectively build a new hospital, or build a new hospital facility on a new site", 64 percent of respondents indicate awareness of these upcoming plans for the hospital.

Hospital Development Preferences

Current Site vs. New Site

Initially, there is no consensus between the option of extensively redeveloping the existing hospital in order to effectively build a new hospital at the current location, or the option of building a new hospital on a new site and thereafter close the existing hospital.

Assuming that there would effectively be no cost difference between either option, 44 percent of Brampton residents identify with the viewpoint that "the current location of the hospital is a good one, and the existing hospital site should undergo extensive redevelopment to effectively build a new hospital at the current location". Under the same cost assumption, 42 percent of Brampton residents identify with the viewpoint that "in order for the new hospital development to be done properly, a new hospital should be built on a new site, and then the existing hospital should be closed and the old site be used for some other purpose". It is noteworthy that 10 percent volunteered a preference for maintaining the current hospital as well as building a new one.

Among those who prefer to build a new hospital on the current site, location-based issues are the primary reason behind their choice between the two options. More than half (55%) hold this preference because they like the current location. A further 16 percent say they prefer building on the existing site because they live nearby, and 6 percent because they think that other locations would be too far away.

Among those who prefer to build a new hospital on a new site, there is less consistency in the reasoning behind their choice. Sixteen percent (16%) hold this preference because they believe a brand new hospital will be a better hospital and 7 percent because they feel a brand new hospital will have newer and more modern facilities. Another 23 percent hold this preference because they dislike the current location (11%) or feel it is difficult to access (12%). One in ten (10%) prefer a new site because they think either there is not enough room on the present site to build (5%) or a new site will offer more room (5%).

Current Site vs. New Site: Time Considerations

Upon being informed that "redeveloping the existing hospital to effectively build a new hospital on the current site would take seven to eight years to phase-in, whereas building a new hospital on a new site would take about half the time to be completed", three-quarters (76%) of Brampton residents prefer building a new hospital on a new site rather than the current site (22%).

Current Site vs. New Site: Economic Considerations

A significant majority (63%) of respondents indicate that it is acceptable if businesses at the current site are hurt by closing the current hospital and building a new hospital on a new site. Comparatively, three in ten (31%) chose the alternative: that it would be unacceptable to close the current hospital and build on a new site if it hurts businesses at the old site. Of the three in ten who hold this point of view, a majority (68%) would change their opinion if they were told that building a new hospital at a new site would provide a better hospital for patients.

Current Site vs. New Site: 3-Option Ballot

When given the choice between the current location, a new site and building a new hospital at a new site while maintaining some services at the existing location, three in four (76%) would prefer choose the latter option - a new site with some services existing at the old site.

Site Criteria

Seven criteria were tested to determine which items were perceived to be most important when choosing a site for the new hospital. The question was asked in two ways:

• Rating of importance on a `0' to `10' scale where `0' means not important at all and `10' means very important; and
• using a trade-off analysis where the items were paired and respondents were asked to choose which of the two items was most important.

The result of the questioning shows that the most important factor by a considerable margin is accessibility by ambulance and emergency vehicles. Second to accessibility by emergency vehicles is potential for expansion and accessibility by public transit.

The two factors that received the lowest ratings for importance were the time it takes to build a new hospital facility and the cost of acquiring land.

General Attitudes

Seven in ten residents agree (40% strongly agree) that they are more interested in getting a new hospital than where the hospital is located. Agreement is consistent across all demographic variables.

Two in three residents (65%) agree that the requirements of developing a new hospital for the whole community are more important than the impact it will have on resident who might be expropriated from their homes or business because of the new hospital development. Older respondents are more likely to agree with this statement than younger respondents are (72% of those aged 55 and older agree versus 60% of those aged 18 to 34). Further, those with lower household income are less likely than average to agree with the statement (51% agree).

Demographic Focus

Of the total sample, 57 percent reported that they or someone in their immediate family has been a patient of a local Brampton area hospital for its emergency room in the last year. One in four have personally been, or someone in their immediate family has been, to a Toronto hospital or emergency room.

Over a third (38%) of those who have been a Downtown Toronto hospital patient say they would be less likely to go to a hospital outside of Brampton if a new hospital facility were built on a new site in Brampton and the existing hospital were thereafter closed.

This media release summarizes the final results of the public opinion survey on siting options for the Brampton Memorial Hospital Campus of the William Osler Health Centre. A total of 600 random telephone interviews were conducted among a representative sample of Brampton adults between June 14th and 19th, 2000. The results are statistically weighted to ensure the sample accurately reflects the actual Brampton population according to the 1996 Census. A survey of this design has an associated margin of error of +4.0%, 19 times out of 20. The margin of error is greater for sub-segments of the larger survey population.

To view the complete media release please download the PDF file.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice President
Public Affairs
Angus Reid Group
(416) 324-2900