Ontario Increases Base Funding to Local Hospitals

NEWS                                                                                              July 20, 2023

HURON-BRUCE – As part of Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the Ontario government is investing over $7,405,600 million in base funding to deliver faster, more convenient access to healthcare closer to home for people in Bruce, Grey, Huron and Owen Sound. This is part of Ontario’s $850 million additional investment for the 2023-24 year to ensure that all public hospitals across Ontario receive a minimum two per cent funding increase.

In recognition of the unique challenges faced by small and northern hospitals in the province, our government is making an additional one-time investment of $22 million to establish a Small and Northern Hospital Stabilization Fund. This fund will support ongoing efforts to build a strong and resilient health system by easing pressures faced by small and northern hospitals.

“Our government is working hard to deliver care in the community and relieve pressures on our hospitals, so patients can receive the care they need faster and in more convenient ways,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “By providing hospitals with this extra layer of support, we are supporting future growth, reducing wait times and ensuring Ontarians can connect to the care they need when and where they need it.”

The following hospitals will receive funding:

“This additional funding is great news for residents of Bruce, Grey, Huron, and Owen Sound,” said Lisa Thompson, MPP for Huron-Bruce. “Our government is committed to ensuring that everyone in our region has confidence in and access to the best healthcare available, and this is another step towards achieving our goal. Through this funding, we are positioning our communities for long-term health and prosperity.”

“This increase in base funding to hospitals in our community will help ensure people can continue to connect to world-class care, including emergency department services, trauma, pediatrics, medicine, obstetrics, cancer care, and hospital-based mental health service close to home,” said Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound MPP Rick Byers.

QUOTES

“We are grateful for the continued support and increase in base funding to sustain the provision of high-quality health care close to home.” – Gary Sims, President & CEO, Grey Bruce Health Services

“The South Bruce Grey Health Centre remains committed to the provision of high-quality health care services. This funding announcement and investment from the government will ensure that the residents of our communities will continue to receive the best care, close to home to support their health and well-being.” – Nancy Shaw, President & CEO, South Bruce Grey Health Centre

“Hanover and District Hospital is so very thankful to receive this increase in our base hospital funding. This increase is integral in ensuring that our hospital will have the needed resources to be able to provide quality patient care to the communities that we serve.” – Dana Howes, President & CEO, Hanover & District Hospital

“The tireless advocacy of MPP Thompson and her Team on behalf of her constituents and the hospitals serving them is remarkably important to and appreciated by the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance. The operating funding being confirmed today is just another example of this support and is instrumental in our ability to provide the highest quality hospital-based services possible to our population.” – Andrew Williams, CEO, Huron Perth Health Alliance

“The Wingham and District Hospital is thankful to receive an increase in our base funding in order to address the inflationary challenges we are experiencing. Having the unique challenges faced by small, rural and northern hospital recognized by this government in their funding allocations is important to small facilities such as ours.” – Karl Ellis, CEO, Listowel/Wingham Hospital Alliance

“We extend our gratitude to the government for their unwavering commitment to funding hospitals. With this base funding announcement, we stand better equipped to provide exceptional care to our communities, ensuring a healthier future for all.” – Jimmy Trieu, President & CEO, Huron Health System

QUICK FACTS  

  • Ontario’s $850 million investment in 2023-24 represents a four per cent increase on operating funding to hospitals in 2022-23.
  • Recognizing the unique challenges faced by small, northern hospitals in the province, Ontario is making a one-time investment of $22 million this year to establish a Small and Northern Hospital Stabilization Fund which will support ongoing efforts to build a strong and resilient health system by easing pressures faced by small and northern hospitals.
  • Ontario has invested over $1 billion through its surgical recovery strategy since the start of the pandemic to support hospitals in ramping up surgeries and addressing wait times impacted by the pandemic.
  • The government is also investing in digital tools to enhance coordination of surgical services between hospitals and enable better patient flow through the implementation of the Centralized Waitlist Management (CWM) program.
  • Investments in the CWM program are supporting regionally led projects across the province that enable a more equitable distribution of surgical cases and reductions in patient wait times, as well as Ontario Health’s development of the technical infrastructure required to support centralized waitlist management at the provincial level.

Ontario Reducing Wait Times for Surgeries and Procedures

Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care

2023 Ontario Budget: Building a Strong Ontario

MEDIA CONTACTS

Andrew Hartmann

MPP Lisa Thompson’s Office

andrew.hartmann@ontario.ca