February 22, 2007
Contact:
Sarah Corrigan
London Health Sciences Centre
519-685-8500, ext. 77062
e-mail: Sarah Corrigan
Contact:
Linda Whitemore
St. Joseph's Health Care, London
519-646-6000, ext. 65294
e-mail: Linda Whitmore
London’s hospitals receive funding in response to peer review
(LONDON, ON) – London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and St. Joseph’s Health Care, London (SJHC) today received a total of $80.8 million of funding from the provincial government. The announcement was made by Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, the Honourable George Smitherman, at a media conference held at St. Joseph’s Parkwood Hospital.
Prior to receiving this funding, London’s hospitals as well as five other hospitals in the province underwent external peer reviews to help achieve balanced budgets. Through this process, CEOs of hospitals of a similar size and type reviewed the hospitals’ operations and provided specific recommendations on improving efficiency and funding.
“We are very grateful for this investment in London’s hospitals. It validates our position that London’s hospitals faced longstanding funding gaps that will be resolved by today’s announcement,” says Paul Caplan, Board Chair, St. Joseph’s Health Care, London.
For LHSC, the government is providing a base funding increase of $27.5 million and for SJHC the base funding increase is $12.5 million.
“This funding will be used to meet the costs of care that we are providing now,” says Cliff Nordal, President and CEO of LHSC and President and CEO of SJHC. “This money ensures that we can sustain our current level of care without running a deficit.”
In addition, Minister Smitherman announced $36.7 million in one time funding to LHSC and $4.1 million in one time funding to SJHC.
At LHSC, $7.1 million of the $36.7 million in one time funding is directed toward transition costs. The remaining $29.3 million is directed toward retiring the debt and liabilities associated with the former Energy from Waste (EFW) project.
At SJHC, the $4.1 million one time funding is directed to offset transition costs.
“This is welcome news for London’s hospitals,” says Doug Alexander, Board Chair of London Health Sciences Centre. “We want to express our appreciation to Minister Smitherman for recognizing the important roles that teaching hospitals play in this region and for ensuring that the funding is available to continue to provide quality patient care.”
