More than $11-million in new funding will be delivered to Windsor’s two hospitals. The funding comes as part of a province-wide funding boost aimed at improving patient care and reducing wait times. The province has announced that Windsor Regional Hospital will receive over $8.9-million, while Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare will receive more than $2.1-million. The funding is intended to help hospitals deal with inflation and wage pressures while also improving access to care. At Windsor Regional, the funding will help reduce wait times for diagnostic imaging and surgeries while improving access to MRI, CT, cardiac and stroke services. At Hotel-Dieu, the investment will support palliative care, rehabilitation and mental health and addiction recovery programs. Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Andrew Dowie says this funding is new on top of the regular annual increases. “What it meant locally was Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare was receiving $2,144,100, an increase of 2.3 per cent. And Windsor Regional Hospital was receiving $8,924,200, an increase of 1.9 per cent. So these funds are going to be used and prioritized by the local hospitals for our local priorities.” He says this additional funding gives hospitals the tools they need to continue great work. “That’s exactly what this investment helps to allow... giving us some breathing room for our local hospitals, reflecting increased demand on their services, allows them to prioritize funds and invest where they’re needed, and that in turn helps all of us in the community, helps our family members feel more at ease and get to their point of recovery a lot faster.” The announcement comes just two weeks after construction officially began on the new multi-billion-dollar Fancsy Family Hospital. Dowie says while the community waits for the new hospital, investments at existing hospitals will continue. “We just came off of a $31-million investment in those facilities for the cardiac catheterization lab and the new linear accelerator at the Cancer Centre. And so the investments in those facilities will continue. They’re not going to stop because healthcare still needs to be delivered until that new hospital is up and running.” Once completed, the new hospital will provide 50 per cent more space than Windsor Regional Hospital’s Ouellette and Met campuses combined. Construction on the Fancsy Family Hospital is expected to take several years, with provincial officials saying investments in Windsor’s existing hospitals will continue throughout the transition.
