ONTARIO PROVIDING MORE SUPPORT FOR ST. MARY’S GENERAL HOSPITAL, GRAND RIVER HOSPITAL, AND CAMBRIDGE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL.
Funding will Provide Financial Relief from COVID-19 Costs and Support Patient Care in Waterloo Region.
WATERLOO REGION – The Ontario government is providing $13,652,890 to St. Mary’s General Hospital, Grand River Hospital, and Cambridge Memorial Hospital as part of its $572.3 million investment to reimburse hospitals across the province for their lost revenue during the pandemic in order to provide financial stability and support continued high-quality patient care people need and deserve.
“Our hospitals and health care professionals have been at the front lines, battling the pandemic with the utmost dedication to caring for and protecting our most vulnerable individuals,” said Mike Harris, Member of Provincial Parliament for Kitchener Conestoga. “The Ontario Government is committed to supporting our hospitals through and beyond the challenges of the past 2 years. Today’s funding announcement is an important step to financial recovery and to ensuring future stability for hospitals in Waterloo Region.”
This funding is part of the province’s overall investment of over $1.2 billion to help hospitals recover from financial pressures created and worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospitals have felt financial challenges not only through direct costs but also through the loss of other forms of revenue such as co-payments for private rooms and the reduction of retail services, all of which contribute to patient care and support clinical services. To ensure Ontario’s hospitals remain on stable financial footing, the government allocated $572.3 million to hospitals across Ontario to help address these fiscal challenges and reimburse qualifying portions of these losses.
“Ontario’s hospitals have been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic and our government is using every tool at our disposal to ensure that they are supported,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “This funding will help ease the financial pressure on hospitals so that they can continue to provide high-quality care and ensure our health care system is prepared to respond to any scenario.”
Since the start of the pandemic, Ontario has worked with its hospital partners to build unprecedented capacity and ensure that Ontarians have access to care. This includes $5.1 billion to add 3,100 beds across the province for a total of approximately 17,000 medical and surgical beds. Through additional investments, the province now has a total of 2,436 adult and pediatric ICU beds. The government remains committed to supporting hospitals so that they can continue to care for Ontarians today and in the future.
“Cambridge Memorial Hospital has been working tirelessly throughout the pandemic and we thank the government for their commitment to support hospitals through this challenging time. Our team of dedicated staff, physicians and midwives did what was needed of them during the COVID-19 crisis,” said Patrick Gaskin, President, and CEO, of Cambridge Memorial Hospital. “They quickly stepped up to open up one of the Region’s first COVID-19 Assessment Centres. They cared for the sickest patients from across Ontario when the system’s critical care bed capacity was challenged. They worked at long-term care facilities in outbreaks and volunteered their days off to help our community become vaccinated. These funds will ensure our hospital has the financial stability it needs to resume our services and keep the focus on providing high-quality care that is centered on patients and their families.”
“Throughout the pandemic, we worked as a system of care to support one another to be able to care for more patients than we have ever seen,” said Lee Fairclough, Regional Hospital Lead for COVID response and President of St. Mary’s General Hospital. “We worked together redeploying staff across our hospitals and our community, but to do this, it also meant reducing other services that resulted in financial pressures for hospitals. Investments such as this will help us to bridge this financial gap created throughout the pandemic and help us focus on our own recovery so we can help patients with theirs.”
“We are encouraged and reassured to know that the government is working to recognize all of the ways that health care organizations have been impacted by COVID-19,” said Ron Gagnon, President and CEO of Grand River Hospital. “The last couple of years have been challenging. This funding will help to fill a critical gap created by COVID-19 costs and the loss of traditional sources of revenue that are used to fund vital equipment and support the cost of operating.”
“Good health is the foundation for our residents to do everything they need and want to do. From earning an income to enjoying leisure activities with family and friends, healthy people support a strong economy and resilient communities. This has never been more apparent than during the past 2 years of the COVID pandemic,” said City of Kitchener Mayor, Berry Vrbanovic. “On behalf of the City of Kitchener, I would like to thank the Province of Ontario for today’s funding announcement to our local hospitals for COVID-related financial shortfalls, supporting high-quality health care for our residents, and for continued healthcare investments in our community.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had an incredible strain on our healthcare system. This funding will ensure we can continue to provide the care our community deserves and make a strong recovery,” said Mayor Kathryn McGarry. “Our hospitals and the teams that run them are exceptional and we are looking toward a better future.”
“The quick action and collaboration of our three local hospitals and their many staff has been essential to the pandemic response across our community,” said Region of Waterloo Chair, Karen Redman. “Thank you to the provincial government for this support so that hospitals can continue to provide exceptional care to our residents.”
FUNDING BY HOSPITAL
- Cambridge Memorial Hospital – $2,957,500.00
- St Mary’s General Hospital – $2,539,638.00
- Grand River Hospital Corporation – $8,155,752.00
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
MEDIA CONTACT
Kasia Kaminska – Office of MPP Mike Harris
Kasia.kaminska@pc.ola.org