I'd also like to bring this petition from the Avoca Vale Resident's Association to your attention, I hope you'll consider signing and stay tuned for future developments.
If you have your own story of support you'd like to voice about
1366 Yonge Street, please reply to this email.
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
RE: 1366 Yonge St.
Dear Minister Clark, Minister Jones, and Premier Ford
Iam writing to express my dismay about a building in my riding of Toronto-St. Paul's, 1366 Yonge St., a 30-year-old building slated for demolition, to be replaced by a 41-storey luxury condominium tower. The development company Bazis plans to demolish the existing building and will not accommodate the current medical facility.
More housing and urban densification are urgently needed in Ontario and Toronto, especially along busy transit corridors. But it is vital that development meets the diverse needs of all residents by including housing that is affordable and by protecting vital local services like the medical care provided at Balmoral Medical Arts Facility, housed at 1366
Yonge St.
Balmoral Medical Arts Facility is home to a variety of health practitioners, including family doctors, dentists, chiropractors, x-ray and laboratory facilities, an optometrist, physiotherapist, audiologist, and a podiatrist. It has been an essential resource to the many clients who rely on these services. According to my constituent Dr. Caroline Newman, who practices at Balmoral, "Patients rely on the practitioners and services in this building...We service a large community that extends beyond midtown to all over the GTA. It is an accessible building that has created a shared professional community for all of us to provide this care. This concerning (development] proposal will affect far more than property lines."
Currently, close to two million Ontarians are without a family doctor. This situation is expected to get worse, as a reported 20 per cent of family doctors plan to retire or close their practice within the next five years. As a result, patients will turn increasingly to emergency rooms for primary care, a phenomenon that is already costing our province far too much. It is all the more crucial, both from an economic and moral standpoint, to protect existing community-based
primary care
The issues with the new development at 1366 Yonge St. are likely not unique to my riding. Folks across the province, especially seniors and vulnerable individuals, deserve access to health care close to home. The residents of 1366 Yonge St. and the critical care practitioners and staff who work there deserve to stay, and patients of Balmoral deserve continued access to these medical services.
My team would be happy to arrange a tour of the building for your government and meet with local health officials to demonstrate the importance of protecting this building and the medical services provided there, both locally and to those across the GTA. I look forward to your response within five (5) business community members of Toronto--St. Paul's.
days, given the urgency of the situation for
Jill Andrew, PhD
MPP Toronto-St. Paul's
Jill
Andrew
MPP Toronto-St. Paul's
jillandrewmpo.ca
andrew-condp.on.c