$20 Million for North Bay Regional Health Centre During Covid-19
October 8, 2021Additional Investment will Help NBRHC Continue to Provide High Quality Care to Patients
NIPISSING – Vic Fedeli, MPP for Nipissing is announcing a significant investment of $20,222,000 from the Province into the North Bay Regional Health Centre.
“Ontario’s hospitals have been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic and our government is using every tool at our disposal to support them,” said Vic Fedeli, MPP for Nipissing. “This funding will ensure the North Bay Regional Health Centre can continue to provide high-quality care.”
“Being a recipient of this funding means that our organization is recognized as highly accountable and deserving of this significant investment which will reduce our historical indebtedness, improve our cash flow and ensure our ongoing viability,” said Paul Heinrich President and Chief Executive Officer of the North Bay Regional Health Centre.
“I want to thank MPP Fedeli and the Ontario government for continuing to make these types of investments, especially at this time when our hospital workers are going above and beyond,” said North Bay Mayor Al McDonald. “This funding will help ensure that the North Bay Regional Health Centre maintains the high quality of care our community deserves.”
The Ontario government is providing up to $696.6 million this year to help cover historic working funds deficits of qualifying hospitals, with a focus on small, medium as well as specialty and rehabilitation hospitals. This funding will help strengthen the financial stability of public hospitals across the province.
This funding is a part of the over $1.2 billion investment previously announced to help hospitals recover from financial pressures created and worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, while ensuring they can continue providing the high-quality care Ontarians need and deserve. This funding will also help to ensure that Ontario’s hospitals are able to respond to any scenario as the COVID-19 pandemic evolves.
Many Ontario hospitals are struggling with annual funding deficits which have been exacerbated by the pandemic. To ensure Ontario’s hospitals remain on stable financial footing at a critical time, the government is allocating this funding to help cover historic working funds deficits for qualifying public hospitals.
Since the onset of the pandemic, Ontario has been working with its hospital partners to create unprecedented capacity and prepare to respond to any scenario. The government remains committed to supporting hospitals so that they can continue to care for Ontarians today and in the future.
QUICK FACTS
- A working funds deficit occurs when an organization’s current liabilities exceed their current assets. All hospitals that had a working funds deficit in 2019-20 qualified for this funding.
- As part of a wider, comprehensive surgical recovery plan to provide patients with the care they need, the Ontario government is investing up to $324 million in new funding to enable Ontario’s hospitals and community health sector to perform more surgeries, MRI and CT scans and procedures, including on evenings and weekends.
- Under the 2021 Budget, Ontario is investing an additional $1.8 billion in the hospital sector in 2021-2022, bringing the total additional investment in hospitals since the start of the pandemic to over $5.1 billion. This includes creating more than 3,100 additional hospital beds to increase capacity and reduce occupancy pressures caused by COVID-19.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
- Ontario Ramping Up Efforts to Reduce Surgical Wait Times
- Ontario Supporting Hospitals with Additional Funding During COVID-19
- 2021 Budget – Ontario’s Action Plan: Protecting People’s Health and Our Economy
- Improving Health Care in Ontario
- Hallway Health Care: A System Under Strain
- Visit Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccine web page to view the latest provincial data and information on COVID-19 vaccines.
- Visit Ontario’s COVID-19 information website to learn more about how the province continues to protect the people of Ontario from the virus.