Province investing $7.2 million for after hours on-call funding at Oshawa, Ajax and Bowmanville hospitals
Published April 20, 2023 at 9:00 am
Queen’s Park is investing nearly $7.2 million to support on-call funding for doctors at Lakeridge Health facilities working after regular hours.
The funding is part of $259 million provided by the province to support on-call coverage in nearly 100 acute- care hospitals across Ontario and follows through on previous agreements between the Ontario Medical Association and Ontario Ministry of Health to increase dedicated funding for physicians on-call.
“Our government is ensuring hospitals have the funds needed so that their doctors can deliver high-quality care, day or night” said Health Minister and Deputy Premier Sylvia Jones. “This funding will give Lakeridge Health the flexibility to meet the needs of the communities and patients they serve within Durham Region.”
Pickering-Uxbridge MPP Peter Bethlenfalvy, who is also the Finance Minister, said investment will help patients in Durham continue to get the care they need in hospital, when and where they need it.
“This funding will support after-hours care at Lakeridge Health Ajax-Pickering Hospital, Oshawa Hospital and Bowmanville Hospital which will allow for more stable after-hours coverage,” he said. “This is great news for our local community.”
This investment also recognizes the efforts of health care workers, especially those who provide on-call services in addition to their regular working hours whenever hospitals need it, he added.
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The province-wide funding includes a $12.5 million investment from the 2021 Physician Services Agreement with the Ontario Medical Association, which also commits to a fundamental re-design of the Hospital On-Call Coverage program into a burden-based funding model. This ensures equitable distribution of funding across physicians providing on-call services.
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