The Ontario government says it is providing over $13.6 million to hospitals in the Region of Waterloo to reimburse the lost revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kitchener-Conestoga MPP Mike Harris made the announcement on Friday which will see $8.1 million for Grand River Hospital, $2.5 million for St. Mary’s General hospital and $2.9 million for Cambridge Memorial Hospital.
“Our hospitals and health-care professionals have been at the front lines, battling the pandemic with the utmost dedication to caring for and protecting our most vulnerable individuals,” Harris said.
“The Ontario Government is committed to supporting our hospitals through and beyond the challenges of the past two years. Today’s funding announcement is an important step to financial recovery and to ensuring future stability for hospitals in Waterloo Region.”
The funding is coming out of the province’s $572.3-million pot that has been earmarked for hospitals across Ontario to help address any fiscal challenges.
St. Mary’s president Lee Fairclough, who also serves as the regional hospital lead for the COVID-19 response, said redeploying staff to other hospitals, vaccine clinics and care homes meant reducing certain services.
“That resulted in financial pressures for hospitals,” he said.
“Investments such as this will help us to bridge this financial gap created throughout the pandemic and help us focus on our own recovery so we can help patients with theirs.”
Global News has reached out to Guelph General Hospital to find out how much funding it has received.
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