Two Simcoe-Grey Hospitals Receive Funding for Emergency Departments

The Ontario government is investing an additional $44 million this year in 165 high volume and smaller emergency departments to reduce wait times and provide people with faster and easier access to timely care close to home.

Simcoe-Grey MPP Brian Saunderson confirmed both Stevenson Memorial Hospital in Alliston and the General & Marine Hospital in Collingwood/South Georgian Bay will receive funding.

General & Marine Hospital: $1,210,600.00
Stevenson Memorial Hospital : $961,100.00

This funding is in addition to the $90 million Ontario invests each year to reward emergency departments that put in place innovative solutions to reduce ED wait times including hiring additional health care staff, accessing more transportation to help transfer medically stable patients out of emergency departments, and creating new beds.

MPP Brian Saunderson said he believes the province and Ministry of Health realize both Stevenson Memorial and the General & Marine hospitals are under stress, and while they are both undergoing capital campaigns to be expanded, additional services are needed now.

“This is very good news for the residents of Simcoe-Grey. This will help reduce wait times in both hospitals to make sure our residents can get faster access to the care they need when they need it” Saunderson added.

Hospitals have the flexibility to decide how to spend this funding on local solutions that will help people receive care faster and reduce their length of stay in an emergency department. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this annual funding helped emergency departments connect people to care sooner by decreasing the average time spent in emergency departments by 12.2 per cent.

To continue building on this success, Ontario is investing an additional $29 million this year to 75 high volume emergency departments across the province to increase their capacity to help more patients and reduce the amount of time people have to wait to access care.