NEWS RELEASE
DOUG DOWNEY, BARRIE-SPRINGWATER-ORO-MEDONTE MPP
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The provincial government is expanding hospital capacity with a significant investment in Barrie’s Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre. This will go a long way to protecting and supporting our residents and health-care workers during the coming flu season, while helping clear the backlog of scheduled procedures and exams.
RVH will receive $12,062,700, enabling the health centre to open up to 99 additional beds, helping to alleviate hospital capacity pressures and reduce wait times. This is part of the Ontario government’s $116.5 million investment to create up to 766 more beds at 32 hospitals and alternate health facilities across the province. RVH will also receive $275,090 to increase hours of operation for its MRI and CT scanners.
“Our government is addressing the concerns of our community by funding almost 100 new beds at RVH. These beds will help alleviate wait times and reduce surgical backlogs within the hospital,” said Doug Downey, MPP for Barrie – Springwater – Oro-Medonte. “As MPPs, we keep in close contact with our hospital officials. We have listened and advocated for our community’s needs, and are glad to see more investments to benefit the health and wellness of people in our region.”
The new beds announced today are in addition to the $234.5 million investment for 139 critical care beds and up to 1,349 hospital beds included in Ontario’s fall preparedness plan, Keeping Ontarians Safe: Preparing for Future Waves of COVID-19.
This brings the total investment to $351 million for more than 2,250 new beds at 57 hospitals and alternate health facilities across the province — beds that will add more capacity for hospitals, help with occupancy pressures and support the continuation of surgeries and procedures.
“This additional funding of more than $12 million for RVH demonstrates our government’s commitment to protecting the health and wellbeing of Ontarians,” said Andrea Khanjin, MPP for Barrie-Innisfil “With the funding provided by our government for additional beds at RVH, the people of Barrie and Innisfil will be supported with the care they require. It is another example of how, when RVH requests support, as local Members of Provincial Parliament, we work with the Minister to find funding.”
The government is providing $2.8 billion for the COVID-19 fall preparedness plan. It focuses on addressing surges in COVID-19 cases and reducing health service backlogs by:
- Extending hours for additional priority surgeries and diagnostic imaging; Helping up to 850 alternate level of care patients access proper care in a home or community setting to help free up hospital capacity; Expanding digital health and virtual services, which provide alternatives to in-person care that limit the transmission of COVID-19, while maintaining access to care;
- Improving access to mental health and addictions services and supports; and
- Increasing home and community care service by adding 484,000 nursing and therapy visits and 1.4 million personal support worker hours.
The province continues to work with its health-sector partners and Ontario Health to develop an integrated health system capacity plan in response to COVID-19. This plan will help ensure hospitals can continue to provide care for COVID-19 patients and treat patients who have been waiting for surgeries and tests. The province will continue to monitor and assess the health system’s needs and address any challenges hospitals may face.
“RVH is extremely grateful for this $12.3 million investment from the provincial government. It will enable RVH to open its 70-bed regional Pandemic Response Unit later this month, as well as 29 beds throughout the health centre, including medical, surgical, critical care and mental health beds. This additional capacity is vitally important to ensuring RVH is able to safely care for the region’s residents in the face of surging COVID-19 cases and the coming influenza season,” says Janice Skot, RVH President & CEO.
“The funding will also allow RVH to operate its MRI and CT scanner additional hours and perform more than 2,300 additional scans. This will help ease the backlog created when scheduled procedures and exams had to be cancelled during Wave 1 of the pandemic earlier this year.”
QUICK FACTS
- Ontario previously invested $741 million to help clear the backlog of surgeries and build more capacity in the health care system to effectively manage surges and outbreaks in COVID-19 cases.
- The Ontario government also released A Measured Approach to Planning for Surgeries and Procedures During the COVID-19 Pandemic, a comprehensive framework to help hospitals assess their readiness and begin planning for the gradual resumption of scheduled surgeries and procedures, while maintaining their ability to respond to COVID-19 and the flu season.
- For additional protection, the Ontario government is encouraging everyone to download the new COVID Alert app on their smart phone from the Apple and Google Play app stores.
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