Fixed wing medivac aircraft cannot land at Pearson without a risk of highly polluting and costly disruptions to regular traffic. Even if Buttonville does not close in the next couple of years, landing at Buttonville or Pearson considerably increases the distance patients and medical freight have to travel to reach Toronto's main hospital complex, and Hamilton airport sits at the end of a long highway that routinely turns into a parking lot. Relocating these flights would mean allocating, and frequently using, helicopters to bring patients and freight into the city center. Apart from whatever increased noise and pollution this caused, the cost using helicopters for patient transfers and medical freight would probably exceed the subsidy Toronto City Centre Airport used to need.

The concentration of medical services in the University Avenue complex provides advantages to everyone in Toronto. Those who benefit from it have an obligation to treat this privilege with respect, and respect includes doing everything possible to ensure that all Canadians get the best possible access to the resources the residents of Toronto have the good fortune to have next door. We cannot settle for merely acceptable medical transport facilities; we have an obligation to create the best facilities possible. Moving fixed-wing medivac to Pearson or Hamilton would not live up to Toronto's responsibilities as a major medical center.

John Spragge

(Editor's note:  Members of CommunityAIR have met with the administrators of the helicopter service operating out of the Island Airport and they admit the Island is a bad location for their service.  They would like to be located north of the city.  Pearson has considerable underutilized capacity.)