Multi-Year Financial Analysis: Halton Healthcare Services Corporation

(Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital and Milton District Hospital)
Halton Healthcare Corporation provides acute and non-acute hospital services at two sites, serving distinct and fast growing Ontario communities with about 350 beds and a wide range of outpatient services. The Milton site is generously sized with both newer and older facilities. The Oakville site is very restricted, with many buildings and wings built over about fifty years, none of which meets current needs.

Multi-year Financial Analysis to Compare Options for Development

A 2002 master planning study by Agnew Peckham identified two incompatible realities for the Oakville site: major program expansion would be required over the next 15 years and the site lacked capacity to accommodate current and future program requirements. In 2003, we worked with Halton Healthcare to assess options for organizing and siting clinical services and for long-term facilities development at the Oakville site. We led a team of hospital staff, architects, engineers, cost estimators, operations planners, and project planners in developing an overall comparison of options for redevelopment and new construction, including capital and operating costs and non-quantifiable factors. This analysis formed the basis for Halton Healthcare's capital redevelopment strategy and funding submission.

Value to Client

The study enabled the client to consider the future viability of its current site and facilities at Oakville, the options for the future, and the overall costs. It enabled the Board to make a well informed, balanced decision on the direction it should pursue for its facilities development. More specifically, it

• identified the scope of services for the future, through consultation with medical leaders and community based services
• engaged the organization, including the Board of Directors, executive team, medical leaders and hospital managers, in discussions about the organization of clinical services among sites, considering effectiveness and practicality of delivery of clinical care, and facility options
• engaged the municipality in understanding the needs and assisting finding suitable potential sites
• identified the potential ongoing usefulness of the current OTMH buildings and site (and limitations) considering
  • upgrades required to continue use of buildings "as is"
  • renovations, expansion, and site service upgrades required to support future need for services
  • capacity of the current site to support the future
  • impact on the surrounding community
• provided a comparison of the alternative facility solutions in terms of
  • total cost (in present day dollars), including capital, ongoing operating, and interim/transitional costs, and cost of financing, and disposal of property where applicable
  • timing of implementation and affect on provision of services to the community
  • non-quantifiable factors
• recommended direction for the future for facilities development and the steps needed to achieve this objective

Relevance for Other Planning

Our work produces concrete information for informed decision making. We're good at working with and leading multidisciplinary teams, accessing the specific skills and expertise needed to create a rich product. We support and involve our client organizations and their communities in understanding and making decisions about complex issues.

The multi-year financial analysis process would be valuable for all organizations faced with decisions about how best to renew facility resources, whether to replace or upgrade, and how extensively and when in the building/wing's life. Many Canadian hospitals, now 40 to 60 years old, were designed for different methods of delivery of care and technology. The multi-year financial model is a valuable tool to support these often complex facility decisions.

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