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HomeNewsOntario invests $3.2M in Muskoka hospitals

Ontario invests $3.2M in Muskoka hospitals

MUSKOKA, ON – The latest funding from the province will put a big dent into the Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare’s deficit, but the group is still projecting to be over $1 million in the red.

Norman Miller, MPP for Parry Sound-Muskoka, announced an almost $3.2 million investment into both Muskoka hospitals last month. It is part of the total $68 million Ontario’s Ministry of Health is putting into small and medium-sized hospitals across the province.

In an interview with the MyMuskokaNow.com newsroom, Natalie Bubela, the CEO of Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare, said the group projected a $4.5 million deficit at the end of the year. Bubela added while it doesn’t completely balance the books, the funding will provide much-needed relief.

“We were just delighted,” Bubela said. “It is great news for Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare. It does help relieve some of our operating pressures and we were ecstatic to have gotten it.”

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Bubela added the group hopes to reduce the remaining $1.3 million deficit through operations and said the public can play a role in helping out as well.

“We really encourage our communities to get their flu shots,” Bubela said. “That would help in terms of keeping people healthy and hopefully keeping them out of our emergency department.”

If the group didn’t receive the new funding, the ministry would have likely asked Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare for an Improvement Plan to describe how it will balance the books.

“They also could have brought in a third party to come and audit our financials to see whether there are areas for improvement,” Bubela said. “There are a variety of things the ministry could have done.”

Miller said the province recognized the struggles medium-sized hospitals were going through under the current funding formula. He added this onetime funding will ensure local hospitals have the resources needed to meet the needs of the communities they serve.

“This new investment in Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare will help deliver on our commitment to end hallway health care,” Miller said.

He added hospitals are having problems with overcrowding. Often times there aren’t enough beds so doctors are forced to see patients in hallways. Miller hopes investments, like this one, will go a long way to curbing that trend.

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