Kingston and the Islands MPP Sophie Kiwala speaking to the media and guest during the funding announcement.
Kingston and the Islands MPP Sophie Kiwala speaking to the media and guest during the funding announcement.
Credit
Matthew Manor/KHSC

Patients and families in Southeastern Ontario will soon be benefitting from a focus on healthcare in the 2017 Provincial budget. The budget, which was recently unveiled at Queen’s Park, guaranteed a minimum two per cent increase in base funding for each hospital in Ontario. It also included an increase of 3.8 percent in total healthcare spending.

Kingston and the Islands MPP Sophie Kiwala held an event at our Hotel Dieu Hospital site to share exactly how much extra funding Kingston hospitals will be getting. KHSC will receive $7.659 million in additional funding and Providence Care will receive $6.224 million. Combined, this will be $13.8 million injection in Kingston hospitals.

“I am proud of our government’s investment in both Kingston Health Sciences Center and Providence Care. This increase to base funding will not only improve access to vital services, but will also improve wait times for patients right here in our community,” said Kiwala.

The money was earmarked by the Province to improve access to cardiac services, critical care, organ and tissue donations and transplants, rare disease care and bariatric services. The Province is also aiming to improve access and reduce wait times for chemotherapy, stroke treatments, hip and knee replacements, and MRI scans.

"On behalf of KHSC and our two sites, I would like to extend our sincere gratitude to MPP Kiwala and the Provincial Government for the funding announced today,” said KHSC CEO Dr. David Pichora. “We are pleased to see the emphasis put on health care in the most recent Provincial budget. It’s through funding such as this that we are able to continue to provide high-quality health care to patients from across our region."

The Province also outlined plans to invest an additional $9 billion over 10 years in capital grants for hospital construction projects across Ontario.

“This is good news as we embark on an ambitious plan for Phase 2 redevelopment at our KGH site along with a series of projects for the HDH site,” said Dr. Pichora. “We look forward to MPP Kiwala’s enthusiastic support at Queen’s Park, as well as support from our partners at the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to transition our Phase 2 project from vision to reality.”

For more information on the most recent Provincial budget, visit the Ministry of Finance's website.

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