Major Funding Boost Will Reduce Wait Times, Address Capacity Issues and Provide Better Care Closer to Home

Today, Premier Kathleen Wynne announced there will be an additional $822 million investment in Ontario hospitals in 2018-19 — an increase of 4.6 per cent.The Premier was joined by Dr. Helena Jaczek, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, and Charles Sousa, Minister of Finance, at North York General Hospital to explain how this major increase in hospital funding will provide better access to care, reduce wait times, address capacity issues and better meet the needs of Ontario’s growing and aging population.

This overall increase of 4.6 per cent is on top of the 3.2 per cent provided last year — allowing hospitals to invest with more precision in the care and supports that address the specific needs of their patients and community.

Patients and families across Ontario will also directly benefit from this increased funding with the expansion of essential services to reduce wait times and priority procedures such as cardiac care, critical care, chemotherapy, treatment for strokes, hip and knee replacements, and medical imaging.

Increasing funding to hospitals and access to high-quality health care across the province is part of the government’s plan to support care, create opportunity and make life more affordable during this period of rapid economic change. The plan includes a higher minimum wage and better working conditions, free tuition for hundreds of thousands of students, easier access to affordable child care, and free prescription drugs for everyone under 25, and 65 or over, through the biggest expansion of medicare in a generation.

QUICK FACTS

• North York General Hospital will receive more than $10.8 million in additional funding in 2018-19, representing a 4.4 per cent increase, which includes more than 550 additional MRI hours for high-risk patients, and support the hospital’s busy emergency department.
• In February 2018, Ontario renewed its support to address increased need for hospital beds with a $187 million investment in 2018-19 that further supports access to care and reduced wait times.
• Hospital operating funding in Ontario has increased by more than 65 per cent, from $11.3 billion in 2003-04 to almost $19 billion in 2018-19.
• The province invested an additional $100 million in 2017–18 in home care supports and services.
• Ontario is creating 5,000 long-term care beds over the next four years and more than 30,000 over the next decade.
• Ontario is launching a historic expansion of mental health and addiction services, with the biggest provincial investment in Canadian history — an increase of $2.1 billion over four years.
• Starting in August 2019, Ontario plans to make prescription drugs free for seniors through OHIP+ for seniors 65 and over, building on the province’s biggest expansion of medicare in a generation that has already made prescription medications free for everyone under the age of 25.