Ontario Investing $15.2 Billion to Protect People and Support Health Care During COVID-19

The Ontario government is investing nearly $45 million to create up to 254 more beds in hospitals and alternative health facilities in Ottawa, including nearly $18 million to address ambulance offload times in Ottawa and the hiring of more frontline staff. This is part of the government’s $15.2 billion investment in health care announced yesterday in the 2020 Budget, Ontario’s Action Plan: Protect, Support, Recover.The first pillar of the Action Plan ― Protect ― outlines how the province is protecting people during the COVID-19 pandemic by improving access to care and reducing surgical backlogs.

Details were provided today by Premier Doug Ford, Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Rod Phillips, Minister of Finance, Dr. Merrilee Fullerton, Minister of Long-Term Care, and Lisa MacLeod, Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Cultural Industries.

“The next phase of Ontario’s Action Plan puts significant funding on the table to support our frontline health care heroes and to make sure our hospitals have the necessary surge capacity they need to care for COVID-19 patients, while clearing the surgeries backlog,” said Premier Ford. “But we have to keep protecting that capacity, and the best way for all of us to do that is to keep following public health measures. Everyone must remain vigilant because we are all in this together.”

Ontario’s 2020 Budget outlines the government’s significant investments to prepare for future waves of COVID-19, with a focus on health care and long-term care. This includes the total investment of $351 million for more than 2,250 new beds at 57 hospitals and alternate health facilities across the province set out in the $2.8 billion Fall Preparedness Plan for Health, Long-Term Care and Education.

“Protecting people has been our government’s number one priority since the first day of the pandemic,” said Minister Phillips. “The investments made through our 2020 Budget will help ensure hospitals in Ottawa and around the province have the necessary resources to keep providing care for those who need it, when they need it. As long as COVID-19 continues to threaten our health, we will continue to be there to protect the people of Ontario.”

In Ottawa, Ontario’s investment for up to 254 total patient beds will help alleviate hospital capacity pressures and reduce wait times. This includes:

• 120 beds at the Greystone Village Retirement Home, operated by Bruyere Continuing Care;
• 56 beds to be operated by the Queensway Carleton Hospital;
• 39 beds and 20 ambulatory offload spaces at the Ottawa Hospital;
• 10 beds at Montfort Hospital; and
• 9 beds at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO).

“Our government is making the necessary investments to quickly and effectively increase hospital capacity and reduce wait times for patients and families in Ottawa,” said Minister Elliott. “We are ensuring our health system is able to respond to COVID-19 outbreaks and help patients waiting for surgeries and other procedures get the care they need, faster and closer to home.”

This announcement includes a $16 million investment in a new Emergency Department Ambulance Offload and Medicine Transition Unit facility at the Ottawa Hospital Civic Campus. This new facility will be built beside the existing emergency department and include a new ambulance offload area with 20 bays to enable paramedics to transfer patients to hospital care safely. It will also include 20 medicine transition beds for admitted patients to move from the emergency department to an inpatient unit. Patients and families from Ottawa and surrounding municipalities as far away as Brockville, Kemptville and Cornwall will benefit from this project.

To further support faster access to care for patients, Ontario is providing $1.5 million to four Ottawa area hospitals to hire frontline staff. This funding will allow paramedics to transfer the care of their patients to hospital staff and allow the ambulance to respond to the next 911 call more quickly. Dedicated offload nurses help reduce ambulance offload delays, improve patient flow in busy hospital emergency departments and ensure patients are receiving timely access to acute care services.

This funding is part of a separate $16.1 million investment the government is making in 2020-21 to hire dedicated nurses to receive ambulance patients and return paramedics to the community faster. Last year, the investment increased ambulance availability by approximately 500,000 hours.

The province will continue 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.

With a recent increase in cases of COVID-19, it remains vital for the government to continue to protect vulnerable populations and for people in Ontario to follow public health advice.

Quick Facts

• In total, Ontario’s COVID-19 health response is now a projected $15.2 billion. The government is making available a Pandemic Fund of $4 billion in 2021-22 and a further $2 billion in 2022-23 to ensure the province can remain responsive to evolving needs in the fight against the pandemic.
• As part of the $2.8 billion Fall Preparedness Plan, Ontario 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.
• The Ontario government is also providing $77 million in additional funding to support paramedic services and dispatch centres as they continue to respond to COVID-19 and increasing its funding to the Land Ambulance Service Grant provincially by five per cent in 2020-21.
• The province’s dedicated offload nursing program supports the creation and retention of some 150 frontline nursing positions each year, providing over 300,000 hours of care. Last year, this directly affected approximately 800,000 ambulance patients that were cared for by a dedicated offload nurse.

Quotes

“Today’s announcement highlights the Government of Ontario’s commitment to keeping Ottawans and all Ontarians safe and healthy as we continue to face the COVID-19 pandemic. We are very pleased that the province is providing nearly $45 million to alleviate pressures on our health care system. I greatly appreciate the continued support and focus of Premier Ford’s government on the response to COVID-19.”

– Jim Watson
Mayor of Ottawa

“Our health care system has faced one of its greatest challenges in the COVID-19 pandemic, and these funds will make a significant impact in our ability to continue providing the high-quality care that our community needs. By creating more bed capacity in the region and hiring additional staff, we will be able to work through the current backlog of surgeries and procedures, ensure that those in need of urgent care receive it in an efficient manner, support our paramedic partners to efficiently return to the community from the Emergency Department, and create the space necessary to care for COVID-19 patients.”

– Cameron Love
President and CEO, The Ottawa Hospital

“CHEO is the only site in our region for almost all the services we provide. When areas of the hospital are running over 100% occupancy, sick children and youth have to wait or go to other cities. These new beds will help us improve access and cut waits so that families promptly get the care they need.”

– Alex Munter
President and CEO, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario

““These beds are vitally necessary — and will mean safer care for people in our community. They will also help us tackle surgical backlogs, helping people get the care and treatment they need.”

– Dr. Andrew Falconer
President and CEO, Queensway Carleton Hospital

Additional Resources

• Visit Ontario’s website to learn more about how the province continues to protect the people of Ontario from COVID-19.
• Ontario’s Action Plan: Protect, Support, Recover

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