Good news was recently announced regarding health care services in the district.
Riverside Health Care is receiving $1.353 million from the province in hospital pressure funding to provide patients and residents with better care.
Local MPP Greg Rickford visited La Verendrye Hospital on Friday to make the announcement.
“This operational funding will help relieve pressure caused by overcapacity,” he said. “It will allow Riverside to fulfill its mission, so patients and families in our communities can have access to the reliable quality care they expect and deserve.”
“Ontario’s government for the people is moving forward to correct and address challenges that face our system, particularly out here in Northwestern Ontario,” Rickford added.
The funding is aimed at covering additional hospital expenditures that were incurred while Rainycrest was closed from February of 2018 to March of 2019.
“With the support of our board and senior team and management, we continue to work diligently to improve and stabilize operations at our long term care home,” Riverside CEO Ted Scholten said.
“This will enable the hospital programs and services to soon return to normal,” he added.
With Rainycrest being closed for so long, Scholten said the past year has been difficult for Riverside and the catchment area it serves, so the funding will go a long way.
Of the $1.353 million Riverside is receiving, $364,000 comes from the Acute Branch/Overcapacity Surge Funding, which provides the equivalent of six additional beds at La Verendrye Hospital.
And the balance of money will be re-allocated by the Home and Community Care division of the North West LIHN.
“Surge funding is a component of this–recognizing that seasonally there is a higher incidents of admissions,” Rickford remarked.
“It’s an example of how we’re investing in essential health care projects to ensure the people of Ontario will have the health care services that they can depend on now and for future generations,” he added.
The funding that Riverside received is part of more than $175 million the province is allocating to 128 hospitals across Ontario.
“In terms of surge capacity funding and all of those things it will help us tremendously towards balancing our financial situation for this coming fiscal year,” said Riverside board chair Janice Beazley.
With the closure to admissions at Rainycrest, La Verendrye Hospital had an excessive alternate level of care focus which increased operating costs tremendously.
Housing the nearly 30 extra patients who were waiting to move into the long-term care home had a rippling effect on the hospital’s costs, Beazley noted.
She said this funding will absolutely improve resident care.
“These folks are going back into the environment that they need to be in back over at Rainycrest where they have more appropriate types of activation services that normally an acute care facility wouldn’t provide,” Beazley explained.
“But I really want to reiterate our auxiliary and our volunteers really stepped up to try and provide some of those things here, so I don’t want to make it sound like we haven’t been doing it,” she added.
“They’ve really stepped up and helped us with that while those folks have been here.”
Meanwhile Rickford, Scholten, and Beazley thanked Northwest LIHN CEO, Dr. Rhonda Crocker Ellacott for being instrumental in securing the funding.
They also thanked all the departments at Riverside Health Care as well as their team for working extra hard through this past year as admission closed at Rainycrest.
