Ontario Investing $1.9 Million to Reduce Emergency Department Wait Times at Niagara Health
September 20, 2023
St. Catharines – As part of Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the Ontario government is investing an additional $44 million in 165 high volume and smaller emergency departments across the province to reduce wait times and provide Ontarians with faster and easier access to timely emergency care close to home.
Through this investment, Niagara Health is receiving $1,975,600 in support to reduce wait times in emergency departments at the St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Welland sites.
This funding is in addition to the $90 million Ontario invests each year to reward emergency departments that put in place innovative solutions to reduce Emergency Department wait times, including hiring additional health care staff, accessing more transportation to help transfer medically stable patients out of emergency departments, and creating new beds.
“This provincial funding is a direct investment into frontline capacity at Niagara Health,” said Sam Oosterhoff, MPP for Niagara West.
“The increased support addresses growing pressures on local emergency departments across the province and provides frontline doctors and nurses with the resources they need to care for patients in life-threatening situations.”
“When someone experiences a medical emergency, it is vital that they get the urgent attention they need quickly,” said Hon. Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.
“By offering more funding for hospitals who show the greatest success in reducing wait times in their emergency departments, we are providing more support for them to deliver faster emergency care to the communities they serve.”
“Niagara Health is very thankful to the Ontario government for this important investment in our emergency departments,” said Lynn Guerriero, President and CEO of Niagara Health.
“This funding will allow us to continue to support and improve our emergency departments for the Niagara community. I am proud of our team who continually strives to improve care and wait times through new and innovative approaches, and to our front-line ED staff and physicians who serve our patients each day.”
Local hospitals have the flexibility to decide how to spend this funding on local solutions that will help people receive care faster and reduce their length of stay in an emergency department.
In addition to the funding for emergency departments, the Ontario government is investing up to $1.17 billion in 2023-24 to support bedded capacity at hospitals across the province.
Through this investment, Niagara Health is receiving $48,034,000 in base funding to support ninety-eight acute and complex care beds – while this funding has historically been allocated on a one-time basis, the Ontario government has converted this contribution to permanent base funding.
“The government’s ongoing commitment and investments in Niagara Health and the community are greatly appreciated. This investment into our annual budget will strengthen our ability to meet the needs of Niagara’s growing and aging population,” said Guerriero.
Since 2021-22, the Ontario government has invested in expanded bedded capacity, amounting to over 3,500 additional beds. This funding is the first step in converting a portion of previously one-time funded beds into permanent base funding, further improving the ability to address acute and post-acute care capacity needs across the hospital sector.
With Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the province is continuing to find innovative ways to reduce wait times and make it faster and easier for Ontarians to access timely emergency care, closer to home.