.JPG;w=960)
Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli is announcing a significant investment of $20.2 million from the provincial government into the North Bay Regional Health Centre (NBRHC).
“Ontario’s hospitals have been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic and our government is using every tool at our disposal to support them,” Fedeli observes. “This funding will ensure the North Bay Regional Health Centre can continue to provide high-quality care.”
President and CEO Paul Heinrich says of NBRHC, "It is not only a large community hospital, it's also the tertiary mental health provider supporting all of northeastern Ontario and we should be extremely proud that that gem exists in our community."
Ontario acknowledges hospitals are struggling with annual funding deficits which have been exacerbated by the pandemic. To ensure NBRHC — and all of Ontario's hospitals — remain on stable financial footing at a critical time, the government is helping to cover these historic working funds deficits for qualifying public hospitals. A working funds deficit occurs when an organization’s current liabilities exceed its current assets. All hospitals that had a working funds deficit in 2019-20 qualified for this funding.
"Being a recipient of this funding means that our organization is recognized as highly accountable and deserving of this significant investment which will reduce our historical indebtedness, improve our cash flow and ensure our ongoing viability." says Heinrich, later adding the funding is "an amazing amount of resources and yet, health care — especially at the specialized and acute level — is very expensive, so this allows us to continue to be stable and I cannot thank the government enough for that."
Ontario says it has been "working with its hospital partners since the onset of the pandemic 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."
“I want to thank MPP Fedeli and the Ontario government for continuing to make these types of investments, especially at this time when our hospital workers are going above and beyond,” says North Bay Mayor Al McDonald. “This funding will help ensure that the North Bay Regional Health Centre maintains the high quality of care our community deserves.”
The Ontario government is providing up to $696.6 million this year — part of over $1.2 billion previously announced — to help hospitals recover from financial pressures created and worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic to help cover historic working funds deficits of qualifying hospitals, with a focus on small, medium as well as specialty and rehabilitation hospitals. This funding is intended to strengthen the financial stability of public hospitals across the province.
