BY KEITH LACEY
The announcement about additional funding for Sudbury Regional Hospital some people thought would never come did.
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Jim Flaherty |
Sudbury Mayor Jim Gordon called the provincial government?s funding allocation of $83.8 million ?a wonderful day for Sudbury and all of the towns and villages across northeastern Ontario.?
Jim Flaherty, Minister of Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation, said the Tory government?s total investment for Sudbury?s one-site hospital comes to just over $196 million. Vickie Kaminski, CEO of Sudbury Regional Hospital, said the funding announcement ?was right in the ballpark? of what hospital administrators were looking for to complete Phase II of the capital construction project.
Some people had estimated it would take between another $150 to $210 million to complete hospital construction, but those figures were thrown about by people who don?t know what they?re talking about, she said.
There is going to be more funding needed for equipment and programs, but this funding is what is needed to ?finish the bricks and mortar and complete all capital costs,? said Kaminski.
Flaherty made the announcement on behalf of Premier Ernie Eves, who was scheduled to be in Sudbury Tuesday. He cancelled his itinerary here to remain at the province?s Emergency Measures Office in Toronto to continue managing the ongoing electricity situation.
Kaminski led Flaherty and members of his staff on an extensive tour of the completed Phase I capital construction project, before gathering outside with about 120 dignitaries, politicians, doctors, nurses and hospital administrators for the funding announcement.
The provincial government has always maintained health care is its top priority and this funding announcement is another step in ensuring Sudbury and area residents and citizens all across northeastern Ontario will be able to access one of the finest hospitals in the province, said Flaherty.
?Hospitals are the cornerstones of our communities and they must have the resources to deliver the services that people need,? he said.
?Today?s investment in the new state-of-the-art Sudbury Regional Hospital will bring quality health care closer to home for some 600,000 people in northeastern Ontario.?
When completed, Sudbury Regional Hospital will have 429 beds, making it, by far, the largest hospital in Northern Ontario and 11th largest in the province.
Not only will the super-hospital consolidate health-care services from three facilities into one, but it will strengthen established priority programs such as cardiac care, cancer care, trauma care, rehabilitation services and mental health services, he said.
The new facility will also be officially affiliated with the Northern Ontario Medical School.
Flaherty took a shot at the federal Liberals and what he calls their lack of commitment to sharing in the incredible costs of improving health care services in Ontario.
Almost half the province?s total budget is now being spent on health care, while the federal budget?s portion has sank to only 17 per cent of its total budget, said Flaherty.
?It?s time for the federal government to recognize its responsibilities to the people of Ontario and provide its fair share of health care funding,? he said.
The provincial government has also announced approval for the addition of 64 complex continuing care beds at the new St. Joseph?s Villa in Sudbury, said Flaherty.
This announcement means it will take some time to move continuous care beds from the Laurentian site to St. Joseph?s Villa, but ensure the completed one-site hospital can concentrate on acute care, said Kaminski.
She expects Phase II construction to start in late spring and construction to be completed by the spring of 2006.
