ONTARIO PROVIDING MORE FUNDING FOR HOSPITAL CARE AND NEW BEDS IN WATERLOO REGION
New investments will ensure local families have access to high-quality health care.
CAMBRIDGE — Today, Mike Harris, MPP for Kitchener-Conestoga, announced that the following hospitals in Waterloo Region will receive additional operating funding this fiscal year:
- Cambridge Memorial Hospital will receive an additional $6.8 million starting in 2022/23, representing an increase of 5.6 percent to funding last fiscal year.
- Mary’s General Hospital will receive an additional $8.1 million starting in 2022/23, representing an increase of 5.5 percent to funding last fiscal year.
- Grand River Hospital Corporation will receive an additional $7.5 million starting in 2022/23, representing an increase of 3 percent to funding last fiscal year.
This funding is part of the Ontario government’s $827 million additional investment in hospitals across the province, representing a four percent increase from last year. This will ensure all publicly funded hospitals receive a minimum two percent increase in their operating budgets to help them better meet patient needs while building a stronger, more resilient health care system.
“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our local hospitals have gone above and beyond to provide exceptional care to patients and families across Waterloo Region,” said Mike Harris, Member of Provincial Parliament for Kitchener-Conestoga. “I am extremely pleased that the province has identified and responded to the growing healthcare needs within the region. Today’s funding is just one way Ontario supports high-quality and timely access to health care to ensure we can stay open and be there for individuals and families if and when they need access to care.”
In addition, as part of its plan to stay open, the government is investing $81,599,400 to add 217 new patient beds to hospitals in Waterloo Region. These new beds are part of a capital plan expansion with more than 50 major projects that will add 3,000 new beds over 10 years and support the continuation of over 3,100 acute and post-acute beds in hospitals and alternate health care facilities and hundreds of new adult, pediatric and neonatal critical care beds. Since the outset of the pandemic, the government has added 777 more intensive-care unit hospital beds with the capacity to now handle 2,448 critical care patients.
Funding and Bed Allocation by Hospital
- Cambridge Memorial Hospital will receive $11,242,000 for 22 new patient beds.
- Grand River Hospital Corporation will receive $49,406,400 for 154 new patient beds.
- Mary’s General Hospital will receive $20,951,000 for 41 new patient beds.
Also, as part of Ontario’s comprehensive surgical recovery plan, our government announced a new $30 million Surgical Innovation Fund to help hospitals address barriers to surgeries. To further support surgical recovery as hospitals continue to ramp up non-urgent and non-emergent surgeries and procedures, we have expanded the fund by an additional $56.2 million, for a total of $86.2 million. This investment will enable more hospitals to move ahead with their projects and ensure that patients receive the care they need and deserve.
| Hospital Name | Project Name | Total Funds |
| St. Mary’s General Hospital | OR Attendant Course | $15,005 |
| St. Mary’s General Hospital | OR Bronchoscopes | $150,000 |
| St. Mary’s General Hospital | Surgical Block Room Project | $168,750 |
| St Mary’s General Hospital | Surgical Block Room Project | $316,253 |
| Grand River Hospital | Endoscopy Expansion | $1,898,460 |
| Grand River Hospital | Fracture Clinic and Hand and Upper Extremity Clinic Relocation | $100,000 |
| Cambridge Memorial Hospital | C3 Same Day Surgery Space | $302,568 |
| Cambridge Memorial Hospital | C3 Same Day Surgery Space | $36,380 |
Thanks to targeted government initiatives, over 465,000 scheduled surgeries took place in main operating rooms in Ontario’s hospitals in 2020-2021, which is approximately 70 per cent of surgeries competed pre-pandemic. Throughout the pandemic, the government took action to preserve access to urgent surgeries, and as a result, 99.3 per cent of the most urgent patient surgeries were completed and 76 per cent of patients who were waiting for required surgery between March 1, 2020 and March 1, 2021 have received the care they need.
In addition, with the government’s support, hospitals were also able to perform MRI and CT scans consistently at over 100% of their pre-pandemic output in 2021-22 and reduced wait times to lower than pre-pandemic levels by December 2021.
Building on these accomplishments, the Surgical Innovation Fund projects will add future capacity to provide an estimated 49,600 additional surgeries and procedures, and up to 106,375 additional MRI and CT scans across Ontario. As part of the province’s broader surgical recovery plan, the Ontario government is investing up to $324 million to enable the health care system to provide thousands of additional surgeries and procedures as well as up to 270,000 more diagnostic imaging hours.
Over the last four years, the Ontario government has made significant investments in Ontario’s hospitals as part of its plan to build a stronger, more resilient health care system that is better able to respond to crisis. This includes overall sector increases four years in a row, representing a total provincial investment of $2.5 billion since 2019.
QUOTES
“Cambridge Memorial Hospital has been working tirelessly these past two years and we thank the government for their commitment to support hospitals through this challenging time,” said Cambridge Memorial Hospital President and CEO, Patrick Gaskin. “Our team of dedicated staff, physicians and midwives did what was needed and they stepped up to provide exceptional care to our community. This investment adds bed capacity and supports surgical procedures. It signals that our people will be supported as they work through the last challenges of the pandemic and ensure that our community will receive the high quality and timely patient care they need.”
“Our community continues to grow as does the need for care close to home,” said Sherri Ferguson, Interim President, St. Mary’s General Hospital. “We are most grateful for this welcomed investment that will help St. Mary’s to continue to provide high-quality care to our growing community ensuring that everyone has access to the care that they deserve when they need it the most.”
“This funding is so important to sustain the vital health care resources and services that we have put in place, and are essential to support the increasing care needs of our growing community and the related pressures felt by our care teams,” said Ron Gagnon, President and Ceo of Grand River Hospital. “We thank the Ontario government for this investment in Grand River Hospital and our partners in health care. This will help to enable the world-class care that patients and families across our health system deserve.”
“Investing in our healthcare systems is critical for the overall well-being and future of our communities,” said Mayor Kathryn McGarry. “This funding ensures people have access to the right care at the right time, furthering the overall health of Cambridge and Waterloo Region.”
“Ontario’s hospitals have been unwavering in their commitment to protecting the health and wellbeing of Ontarians, and our government is committed to ensuring that they have the resources needed to recover from the pandemic and meet the ongoing needs of the communities they serve,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “By increasing investments in hospitals province-wide, our government is helping to ensure that patients have access to the high-quality care they need, when and where they need it.”
QUICK FACTS
- To support growing demands on the health care system, Ontario’s investments over the next 10 years will lead to $40 billion in health infrastructure across the province. These investments will increase capacity in hospitals, build new health care facilities, and renew existing hospitals and community health centres.
- Surgical Innovation Fund projects were approved based on a set of guidelines, including impact on increased surgical and procedural capacity, alignment with surgical recovery priorities such as local wait times, health human resources pressures and need for new equipment, and long-term utility to create lasting impacts for sustained surgical output increases in communities.
- To further support the high-quality care provided by Ontario’s hospitals, the government is providing an additional $827 million to hospitals across the province, representing a four per cent increase from last year. This will ensure all publicly funded hospitals receive a minimum two per cent increase to their budgets to help them better meet patient needs, while building a stronger, more resilient health care system.
- To support growing demands on the health care system, Ontario’s investments over the next 10 years will lead to $40 billion in health infrastructure across the province. These investments will increase capacity in hospitals, build new health care facilities, and renew existing hospitals and community health centres.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES