RICHMOND HILL, Ont - The agencies that fund Ontario's hospitals found out Sunday what slice of the funding pie each will receive as part of last month's provincial budget.
The $667.2 million -- an increase of 4.9 per cent over last year's funding -- is to be split between 14 local health integration networks, or LHINs. They will give the money to more than 150 hospitals.
Health Minister George Smitherman said it's the earliest the province has ever announced funding allocations after a budget.
"The task that hospitals have is a very difficult one and accordingly we think its important that we let them know what kind of resources they have the chance to work with,'' Smitherman said.
The money is meant to key-in on four specific areas: eliminating wait times, increased funding for small and rural hospitals, money to hospitals in the province's fastest growing communities and funds to hospitals that are renovating or expanding.
Those latter two elements explain the situation at York Central Hospital in Richmond Hill -- the site of Sunday's announcement. York Central is undergoing a major expansion and renovation that will, among other things, see 122 inpatient beds added by 2009.
That hospital will receive $5.1 million.
Hospital president and CEO Bruce Harber said the money is also welcome at a time when the region is growing faster than any other in the province.
"Speaking for ourselves, we're going to take this money and actually, it's going to really help us balance our budget for next year,'' Harber said.
"I believe that other hospitals should be looking at this quite positively.''
Conservative Health Critic Elizabeth Witmer didn't share Harber's positive outlook.
Witmer believes this time next year, more hospitals will be reporting even higher deficits.
She said the Liberal government promised a strategic, 10-year health-care plan back in 2006 and its absence means the government continues to shove money at hospitals without any framework.
"If you don't have a plan and you don't know where it is you're going, you keep throwing money out the door without knowing what the outcomes are going to be without any sort of accountability'' Witmer said.
Another element not addressed in Sunday's announcement is whether the inflationary funding increase for hospitals announced last year is included in the $667 million.
Ontario Hospital Association president Tom Closson said it will still be several weeks before hospitals find out exactly how much money they will get.
But he adds if there isn't additional funding beyond the 2.4 per cent allotted for inflation this year, it could spell danger for some hospitals.
"It's great to have more information but we're going to have to watch this over the next few months to see how it unfolds in terms of how many hospitals are still having challenges in balancing their budgets,'' Closson said.
"If a hospital receives less money for inflation than inflation actually is, then they have to look at what cuts they can make.''
