Hopitals not happy with $750,000 in extra funds

MUSKOKA — On the eve of the provincial budget, the embattled Muskoka Algonquin Healthcare received a funding increase from the governemnt it flatly calls totally insufficient.

Muskoka’s two hospitals welcomed any new funding but said need more money from the province to keep pace with rising costs.

“The $750,000 earmarked in the budget is very disappointing, and does not address the multi-million dollar operating shortfall we are projecting for the 2018-19 fiscal year,” said CEO Natalie Bubela.

MPP Ann Hoggarth announced a $750,000 increase in funding for MAHC in 2018-19, while in Barrie on Tuesday at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre.

While she and the provincial government announced an overall hospital funding increase of 4.6% across Ontario, “the amount announced for MAHC represents only a 1.4% increase in funding,” the management of the two hospitals in Bracebridge and Huntsville said in a statement in response just after.

“Hospital funding has not kept pace with many new and rising costs, including salary increases mandated through collective agreements, increasing energy costs and new regulations,” said Bubela. “We continue to face enormous pressure to do more with less to ensure access to care.

Evelyn Brown, the busy chair of the MAHC board of directors, shared the sentiment that while any increase in funding is welcome, MAHC’s allocation is hardly representative of inflation.

“Earlier this month, (MAHC’s) Senior Leadership Team, along with representatives of the North Simcoe Muskoka LHIN met with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to advocate for additional funding to address our ongoing operating challenges,” Brown says in the hospital release.

“This is not a fix to the funding formula that is so badly needed. We will continue advocacy with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the North Simcoe Muskoka LHIN to properly fund our operations, but the pre-budget announcement is extremely disappointing for all of Muskoka.”