MPP for Hastings-Lennox and Addington Daryl Kramp and Bay of Quinte MPP Todd Smith teamed up to make the announcement that $5 million will be going to Quinte Health Care.
“It’s critical,” Kramp says of the funding. He says without the funding there would have been reductions in services. “We definitely cannot and should not have that,” he says.
“The Province has a comprehensive plan to end hallway health care, that involves working with hospital partners, like Quinte Health Care, to fix long-standing funding issues that disadvantaged small- and mid-sized hospitals, and multi-site hospitals like the four-site corporation,” Smith adds.
Kramp adds that the funding is necessary because the current formula the government uses doesn’t adequately account for the needs of rural hospitals like, for example, North Hastings Hospital in Bancroft. “The north is too far away from the Belleville general or any other hospital so it’s own hospital to service the locals,” Kramp says. He adds that some in other areas of the riding or in the Bay of Quinte riding have to drive long distances to get to a hospital.
“Quinte Health Care hospitals have not been funded equitably under the funding formula for a number of years as we were treated as one large hospital when, in fact, we operate two medium and two small hospitals,” QHC President and Chief Executive Officer Mary Clare Egberts says.
“This is an interim bridge to take us through to when the formula will hopefully be changed,” Kramp explains.
Wednesday’s investment is a part of a grander $68 million dollar investment that was announced by Minister of Health Christine Elliot last week. “It includes province-wide increases of one percent for small-sized hospitals, 1.5 percent for medium-sized and multi-site hospital as well as targeted funding to assist with unique situations and historical funding challenges,” a press release reads.