Thursday's provincial budget contained some good news for some local health-care initiatives, says Energy Minister and Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault.
The province has set aside $20 billion for capital programs in health, including $9 billion for ongoing projects. That could be good news for NEO Kids, the local hub for specialized children's care at Health Sciences North.
The centre is looking to expand, with 35,000 patient visits last year expected to grow by 40 per cent in the next decade. NEO Kids will be eligible for funding, and Thibeault said he'll be fighting for it at the cabinet table.
"When you think about NEO Kids, we now have a big pool of money that I'm able to advocate that we get the NEO Kids dollars to help us get that much-needed program in place that I truly support ... as I did with the PET scanner," he said.
As well as NEO Kids, there's also capital funding for hospices, which the Sudbury hospice hopes to access.
“So I'm going to be a very busy guy, continuing to advocate to get the funding that we need for both NEO Kids -- a much, much needed program -- and of course, for the Hospice, as well."
There's also $1.3 billion in the budget to reduce wait times, and the city will be taking part in cancer and chronic pain initiatives.
" We're launching a high-risk lung cancer screening pilot at HSN," Thibeault said. "And we announced earlier the chronic pain clinics throughout the province -- $17 million affirmed in this budget. Sudbury again, through Health Sciences North, is going to serve the surrounding area for chronic pain."
