Hospital given big Orazoonie suppository

NEWS RELEASE

DAVID ORAZIETTI, MPP

************************* Orazietti announces $2.4 million investment for Sault Area Hospital

McGuinty government reducing wait times and improving access to quality health care for all Ontarians SAULT STE. MARIE, ON – Patients at Sault Area Hospital will benefit from the $2,459,400 investment in new hospital funding.

This cash flow is part of a $667.2 million provincial increase, or 4.9 per cent over last year, David Orazietti MPP announced today.

“This investment will help to improve the health care resources for Sault and area residents,” said Orazietti. “The quality and level of care provided at our hospitals ultimately helps to reduce wait times for patients and increase access to family health care.”

The funding increase means more surgeries, lower wait times and improved access to family health care for residents in Sault Ste. Marie.

This new investment includes:

- Funding to help increase access to hospital services in Ontario’s fastest growing communities.

- More surgeries, more MRIs and more CT scans as part of Ontario’s wait time strategy.

- Sustaining services to meet communities with unique needs, such as geographic isolation and a smaller population base. $30 million in funding will be provided to increase access to hospitals in Ontario’s fastest growing communities. The distribution of this funding will be determined by Ontario’s 14 Local Health Integration Networks.

An additional $170 million will be allocated to hospitals later in 2008-2009, making the overall increase 6.1 per cent for this fiscal year.

“Hospitals are one of the cornerstones of our health care system,” said George Smitherman, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. “We will continue to work with our hospital partners and Local Health Integration Networks to ensure that the health care needs of Ontarians are met.”

Hospital funding in Ontario has increased from $10.9 billion in 2003-04 to $14.4 billion in 2008-09, an overall 31.3 per cent increase. Ontario has 150 public hospital corporations on 227 sites and five specialty psychiatric hospitals.

Since 2003, over 100 new hospital projects have been completed or are underway.

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