Province gives Niagara Health $1.9 million to shorten ER wait times

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Published September 21, 2023 at 10:03 am

Lynn Guerriero Sam Oosterhoff
Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff and Lynn Guerriero, President and CEO of Niagara Health, at yesterday's announcement of funding to cut ER wait times. (Photo: Sam Oosterhoff)
The Province has given Niagara Health $1,975,600 to shorten wait times in the emergency rooms of their St. Catharines, Welland, and Niagara Falls hospitals.

“This funding will allow us to continue to support and improve our emergency departments for the Niagara community,” said Lynn Guerriero, President and CEO of Niagara Health.

“I am proud of our team who continually strives to improve care and wait times through new and innovative approaches, and to our front-line ED staff and physicians who serve our patients each day.”

This is on top of the $48,034,000 in base funding pledged by the Province to Niagara Health to support 98 acute and complex care beds. Initially, this funding had been allocated on a one-time basis but the Ontario government subsequently converted this contribution to permanent base funding.

With regards to yesterday’s ER grant, Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff noted, “This provincial funding is a direct investment into frontline capacity at Niagara Health.”

“The increased support addresses growing pressures on local emergency departments across the province and provides frontline doctors and nurses with the resources they need to care for patients in life-threatening situations.”

Niagara Health now has the discretionary power to allot the $1,975,600 between its three health units based on the volume of patients at each.

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