The Ontario government is taking further action to end hallway health care and address the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic by increasing investments in hospitals across the province for the third straight year. Today, Jill Dunlop, MPP for Simcoe North, announced that Georgian Bay General Hospital and Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care would receive additional operating funding beginning in 2021/22:

  * Georgian Bay General Hospital (GBGH) will receive an

     additional $1,713,800 which represents an increase

     of 2.8% to funding

  * Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care will receive an

     additional $2,750,100 which represents an increase

     of 2.0% to funding

This investment builds on the increased investments announced by MPP Dunlop in 2019 and 2020.

“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our local hospital has gone above and beyond to provide exceptional care to patients and families in Simcoe North” said MPP Dunlop. “This new investment is just one way Ontario is supporting high-quality and timely access to health care both during the pandemic and in the future.”

Over the last three years, the Ontario government has made significant investments in Ontario’s hospitals as part of its plan to end hallway health care. This includes overall sector increases of 2% in 2019-20, 3% in 2020-2021 and most recently, 3.4% in 2021-22.

The 2021 Budget, Ontario’s Action Plan: Protecting People’s Health and Our Economy, outlined a total of $1.8 billion in additional investments for hospitals in 2021-22. This includes an increase of $778 million in funding to meet current and future demands for services, and ensures all publicly funded hospitals will receive a minimum one per cent increase to help them keep pace with patient needs and to increase access to high-quality care for patients and families across Ontario.

“Ontario’s hospitals have been unwavering in their commitment to protect the health and wellbeing of Ontarians, and our government is committed to ensuring that they have the resources needed to continue responding to 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 provincewide, our government is helping to ensure that patients have access to the high-quality care they need, when and where they need it.”

The Ontario government remains committed to supporting hospitals so that they can continue to provide the care Ontarians need and deserve, today and in the future. Additional support for Ontario’s hospitals as part of Ontario’s Action Plan includes $760 million to help hospitals continue to respond to COVID‑19 and an additional $300 million to reduce surgical backlogs.

“GBGH thanks the Ontario government and Minister Dunlop for recognizing the challenges hospitals have faced over the past year and even prior to the pandemic,” says Gail Hunt, president and CEO, GBGH. “Knowing we are receiving this funding enables us to plan how we will maintain and improve several areas of our clinical operations at the hospital. Some funding will be directed to maintaining timely access to care in our Emergency department, where we’ll continue providing our community the sixth best times in the province for patients first seeing a physician. It will also be utilized to help put patients in beds – not hallways – and provide more local patients with care closer to home by increasing the volume of important diagnostic testing and procedures we can provide.”

“We are incredibly grateful for today’s announcement of base funding for our hospital for the 2021-22 fiscal year,” said Carol Lambie, President and CEO of Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care. “This funding ensures we can continue to provide the safe, high quality mental health and addiction care to those most needing our services. We extend our sincere appreciation to Minister Dunlop and the Ontario Government for their support.”