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It is the $400 million (or so) question.

Now that a site has been selected for Ottawa’s new Civic hospital, how will the community pay for it?

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The provincial government, of course, pays the bulk of new hospital building costs in Ontario, but not the entire cost. Hospitals are responsible for a local share consisting of 10 per cent of construction costs as well as new equipment. Ottawa’s new Civic super hospital will cost in the $2 billion-plus range. Ten per cent of that, plus new equipment will add up to a significant amount of money to be raised locally — about $400 million, according to earlier estimates, although the hospital has not come up with a final number, which could be higher.

Communities across Ontario that, like Ottawa, are building or have just built new hospitals have struggled with the same issue: how to pay the local share of a high-tech and highly expensive hospital.

There are various approaches.