Brampton council thinks Canada’s ninth-largest city has waited long enough for more provincial health care funding and is “demanding a fair deal” from the Ford government.

The city launched a campaign in June asking residents to share their Brampton health care stories, sign a petition and use the hashtag “#FairDealForBrampton” on social media to put pressure on the provincial government for “immediate funding.”

“Brampton needs a fair deal for health care. From overcrowding to hallway medicine, health care in Brampton is chronically underfunded,” said the city on the campaign website. “We’re demanding immediate funding, the completion of Phase 2 at Peel Memorial, and urgent action for a third health care facility in Brampton.”

Brampton Civic Hospital has one of the busiest emergency rooms in Canada. Incidents of hallway medicine and long wait times have become the norm at Brampton’s only in-patient hospital.

The city says Brampton Civic’s emergency department was built to handle 90,000 visits per year, but is currently operating at 130,000.

The first phase of Peel Memorial Hospital — the Urgent Care Centre (UCC) — opened in 2017. But the second phase, including more in-patient beds, is still in need of funding and several years away from completion. It’s already seeing 75,000 patients annually with a planned capacity of 10,000.

The city also sees some of the highest diabetes rates in the country, with 38 per cent of the population 12 and over suffering from one or more chronic conditions.

In a presentation to council last year, William Osler Health System president and CEO Dr. Brendan Carr called the health care situation in Brampton “unsustainable.” He added that the average per capita funding in Ontario is approximately $1,800 per person, whereas Brampton gets about $1,000 per resident.

With a budget shortfall now sitting $14 million annually, he said additional funding and prompt completion of Peel Memorial are essential for Brampton’s health care infrastructure.

“Our reality is that we’re going to need more beds in the short term. At this point in time with our population, there’s no way for us to avoid that,” said Carr last year.