Chatham-Kent Health Alliance to do more elective surgeries
Chatham-Kent Health Alliance will receive an additional $3.2 million from the province this year to improve hospital care.
Article content
Chatham-Kent Health Alliance will receive an additional $3.2 million from the province this year to improve hospital care.
The money will help the hospital group reduce its surgical backlog related to the COVID-19 pandemic, president and CEO Lori Marshall said.
“We’re very pleased and happy to be receiving funding from the government,” she said. “This allows us to not only . . . approach the renewal that’s required from a surgical perspective but it also allows us to really continue with our operations as a hospital and be able to serve the community.”
The provincial government announced Thursday the health alliance’s Chatham and Wallaceburg hospitals will receive an additional $3.2 million in operating funds starting in 2021-22.
This is a 2.6-per-cent increase to the estimated base and one-time funding of almost $121.8 million received in 2020-21, MPP Rick Nicholls (Chatham-Kent-Leamington) and MPP Monte McNaughton (Lambton-Kent-Middlesex) said in a joint news release.
“It is clear, now that we are on our way out of this pandemic, that local hospitals and staff have gone above and beyond to provide us with exceptional care to the in-need patients and families of Chatham-Kent,” Nicholls said in a statement. “Investments in our health care system today not only help the recovery process of COVID-19 but will also better prepare us for any future emergencies.”
Some services have been limited at times during the pandemic, but the health alliance is again operating at full capacity, Marshall said.
The health alliance plans to do 20 per cent more elective surgeries in the current fiscal year, which runs from April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022, than in the last pre-pandemic year.
There were approximately 3,300 elective surgeries in the 2019-20 fiscal year and approximately 3,000 in 2020-21, said spokesperson Emily Field. The health alliance is planning to do approximately 3,900 in 2021-22.
“That includes an additional 98 hip and knee cases in this coming year,” Marshall said.
Cataract surgeries will also exceed pre-COVID volumes, Field said.
The money going to the Wallaceburg hospital will keep its emergency department open 24-7, pay for medical beds, and help its growing ambulatory services and diagnostic services, Marshall said.
Performing more surgeries this year will require not only more money but also enough surgeons, anesthetists and nurses, she said.
“It is certainly our plan to complete that 120 per cent of surgeries and it will require a great deal of work in order for us to be able to do that,” Marshall said.
The provincial government announced Wednesday it’s giving up to $324 million in funding to help hospitals and the community health sector perform more surgeries and procedures to reduce surgical wait times.
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.