CORNWALL, Ontario – The Provincial government has announced that it will be investing $297, 970 in the Cornwall Community Hospital (CCH).
This money is a portion of $11 million that the province plans to spend on improving hospitals in Eastern Ontario.
“These repairs and upgrades are crucial to ensuring all patients get the help they need now and in the future,” said Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. “By upgrading our hospitals’ infrastructure, we are helping Ontarians get the best health care close to home.”
On top of that $11 million the province also says it intends to spend an additional $9 million on building new hospitals in Ontario.
It is not yet known what the money for the CCH will be spent on, but the hospital has been chronically overcrowded. In January, the hospital reached an occupancy rate of 137 percent, and was frequently been above 100 percent occupancy as of March.
At that time, the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) called for more beds at the CCH.
“Ontario has the fewest number of hospital beds to population ratio of any province in Canada,” the OCHU said in a statement. “The call in Cornwall is part of a push for increased funding for hospitals in the upcoming provincial budget.“
Their sentiment was shared by Stormont, Dundas and South Glengarry MPP Jim McDonell.
“This government spent more than a decade giving with one hand and taking away with the other” MPP Jim McDonell stated. “To be clear, our Cornwall Community Hospital (CCH) budget has not kept pace with inflation for nine years. When our residents are most vulnerable and most in need, they deserve to feel secure and well cared for. Overcrowding makes that impossible. When overcrowding issues arise, all the Ministry can say is that the hospital should count the patients at midnight. For patients to be in hallways and cubbyholes is unacceptable at any time of the day or night. There are no excuses – the Minister must take all action to help Cornwall Community Hospital deliver the services its staff and administrators know our residents need
and deserve.”
