Province commits $10 million to help London and St. Thomas, Ont. hospitals

The Ontario government is helping out three local hospitals with $10-million in funding for critical upgrades and repairs.

The funding is part of a more significant commitment of $175 million through the Health Infrastructure Renewal Fund to support all 131 hospitals throughout the province.

PC MPP for Elgin-Middlesex-London Jeff Yurek was at St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital Wednesday to announce that it, as well as London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and St. Josephs Health Care would all receive funding.

“We were pleased it was considerably more then what we had received over the last number of years and also more then we had expected,” said Dr. Paul Woods, LHSC president and CEO.

“This allows us to pay for some of the critical things that having five million square feet of building require.”

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Woods said three of the main things the funding will be going towards at LHSC are elevator updates, medical equipment, and backup generators.

The bulk of the funding is going to LHSC at just over $6.6 million.

St. Joseph’s Health Care is getting close to $2.1 million, and St. Thomas-Elgin General Hospital will be getting $1.2 million.

“These investments will help ensure that patients in London-St. Thomas can receive the care they need in a safe and comfortable setting, Yurek said.

“Seemingly small things like well-functioning roofs, windows or heating and air conditioning systems, fire alarms and back –up generators can make a world of difference to a patient’s experience.”

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Yurek said the funding is one of the ways the province is trying to address hallway healthcare in Ontario.

“The fund does not directly fund hallway healthcare, but by the government paying for some of the capital needs we have that aren’t related to healthcare, we don’t have to take funds that would be for healthcare and divert it into the maintenance of our building,” Woods said.

In Stratford, meantime, health minister Christine Elliott announced that city’s hospital would receive nearly $1.3 million.

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