New funding will increase care to patients at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital

Kingsentinel.com
March 24, 2022

To help strengthen the financial stability of public hospitals across the province, MPP Stephen Lecce and MPP Daisy Wai announced that the Ontario government is investing up to $696.6 million this year to qualifying hospitals, with a focus on small, medium as well as specialty and rehabilitation hospitals.

Lecce, the MPP for King-Vaughan and Daisy Wai, the MPP for Richmond Hill, announced that locally, this will result in a new investment of $19,842,000 for both Mackenzie Health hospitals in Vaughan and Richmond Hill.

“This is the largest provincial investment in Vaughan’s Cortellucci Hospital that will directly improve our quality of life ­ -- from mental health, to child and birthing, emergency care, and a stroke unit -- that will save lives and help new ones enter the world,” said Lecce. “I am proud to deliver this increase in funding to the Cortellucci Hospital to allow for the hiring of more staff and improved care for our loved ones.”

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. The provincial funding increase to Mackenzie Health enabled hiring of staff, additional critical care beds and vaccine clinic expansion, among many benefits through the pandemic.

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.

“Ontario’s hospitals have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic and our government is using every tool at our disposal to support them,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “This funding will ensure Ontario’s hospitals can continue to provide high-quality care to all Ontarians and that our hospital system is ready to respond to any scenario this fall.”

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.

“Mackenzie Health has been on a unique journey as we opened our second hospital, Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital, and operated one of the busiest emergency departments in the province with volumes consistently increasing year over year at Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital,” said Altaf Stationwala, President and CEO, Mackenzie Health “The pandemic only added to these existing capacity pressures. This additional funding will put Mackenzie Health on a more secure financial footing so that we can continue to provide the care that our community deserves.”

As Ontario’s first net new hospital in over 30 years, Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital was built to help solve hospital capacity challenges in the Greater Toronto Area and end hallway health care. The Ontario government is the largest investor, providing $1.3 billion towards the $1.7 billion Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital project.
As part of Mackenzie Health, Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital will feature fully integrated smart technology systems and medical devices that have the capability to interact directly with one another to provide real-time information and anticipate the patient’s and the hospital’s needs to enhance the patient experience.

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.