Ontario investing $44M to reduce wait times in emergency rooms

Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Sylvia Jones announced Thursday that the Ontario government will be investing $44 million with the goal of reducing wait times and increasing access to care.

The investment will go towards 165 high volume and smaller emergency departments throughout the province.

In a release that followed the announcement, Minister Jones’ team says that the money is allocated towards “innovative solutions” to reduce wait times including hiring additional health care staff, accessing more transportation to help transfer medically stable patients out of the emergency department and create more beds for emergency care.

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Of the investment, $29 million will be allocated towards 75 high volume emergency departments across the province to help in providing faster care and to reduce the length of their stay in the department.

The additional $15 million will also expand the number of smaller hospitals now eligible to receive this funding to help support up to 90 hospitals to hire and retain the staff needed to keep emergency departments open.

Sylvia Jones says of the announcement that, “By offering more funding for hospitals who show the greatest success in reducing wait times in their emergency departments, we are providing more support for them to deliver faster emergency care to the communities they serve.”

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