NEWS RELEASE
MPP JILL DUNLOP
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QUEEN'S PARK – Ontario’s Government for the People is delivering on its promise to end hallway health care by taking urgent action to expand access to long-term care, reduce the strain on the health care system in advance of the upcoming flu season and work with front line health care professionals and other experts to transform the province’s health care system.
Yesterday, Premier Doug Ford and Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, announced that Ontario is moving forward with building 6,000 new long-term care beds across Ontario, representing the first wave of more than 15,000 new long-term care beds that the government has committed to build over the next 5 years.
“We are taking the necessary steps to end hallway health care,” said MPP Jill Dunlop. “With this announcement, we will see 22 new long-term beds in our riding of Simcoe North. There will be 19 new beds added at the Villa Care Centre in Midland and three new beds added at Georgian Manor Home for the Aged in Penetanguishene.” This move will help relieve pressure on hospitals and help doctors and nurses work more efficiently, and provide better, faster health care for patients and their families.
MPP Dunlop stated that the additional $90 million investment to address hallway medicine will create 640 new beds and spaces and also extend funding for spaces already operating in the hospital and community sectors.
“One patient treated in a hallway is one patient too many,” said Dunlop. “We said we were going to make our hospitals run better in this province and with this announcement, we are showing that we are keeping our promise. We are listening to Ontarians and we are moving forward to address the direct challenges we are seeing in Ontario’s health care system.”
As an immediate measure, Ford and Elliott also announced that Ontario will create 640 new beds and spaces and extend funding for spaces already operating in the hospital and community sectors across Ontario to help communities prepare for the surge that accompanies the upcoming flu season.
“Hallway health care is a multi-faceted problem that will require real and innovative solutions,” said Minister Elliott. “Our government will continue to listen to the people who work on the front lines of our health care system as we develop a long-term, transformational strategy to address hallway health care.”
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