County of Simcoe supports local hospitals
The commitment of the County of Simcoe towards the health of its residents was celebrated today as representatives from Simcoe County hospitals and Southlake Regional Health Care Centre in Newmarket thanked County Councillors for another $3 million in support.
The County recently approved the 2014 capital funding for the Simcoe County Hospital Alliance. Funds are being distributed to Southlake, Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre, Collingwood General and Marine Hospital, Georgian Bay General Hospital in Midland and Alliston’s Stevenson Memorial Hospital. The $3 million is part of a 10 year $30 million commitment that started in 2007 for hospital redevelopment projects. While they did not receive funding this year, Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital and Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care are also Alliance members.
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| County of Simcoe Warden Gerry Marshall and County Councillors present Janice Skot, Chair of the Simcoe County Hospital Alliance and her colleagues from Simcoe County hospitals and Southlake Regional Health Centre with the annual $3 million in funding for hospital capital redevelopment projects. The Alliance works collaboratively with the County each year on how to distribute a $30 million 10-year commitment supporting improvements to hospital services for County residents. |
“Residents throughout Simcoe County are the true beneficiaries of these funds,” says Janice Skot, the outgoing chair of the Alliance and RVH president and CEO. “These funds have helped open cancer centres in Barrie and Newmarket, supported the expansion of emergency departments and growth of services such as dialysis and diagnostic imaging in Orillia, Midland, Alliston and Collingwood. On behalf of the patients entrusted to our care in all our organizations, we give our thanks to County Council for this generosity and their ongoing commitment to the healthcare for residents of the region.”
Following a small appreciation event in the morning, Skot, and Guy Chartrand, president and CEO of the Collingwood hospital who will become the Alliance chair in June, also provided an update to Council as to how the funds are being used and information on the growing use of area hospitals in the last year.
“We play a significant role in our regional health care system, delivering paramedic, long term care and seniors’ services to our residents, co-ordinating key partnership, and providing strategic funding to support area hospitals and other vital health care initiatives,” said Warden Gerry Marshall. “The health and quality-of life of our residents is of the utmost importance to us. We commend the Simcoe County Hospital Alliance for their efforts, and we look forward to working with all our partners to advance medical care within our communities.”
Details of how the $3 million was distributed to the five hospitals for 2014 include:
| Collingwood General & Marine Hospital | $222,751 |
| Georgian Bay General Hospital | $540,483 |
| Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre | $1,859,297 |
| Southlake Regional Health Centre | $238,150 |
| Stevenson Memorial Hospital | $131,032 |
The Simcoe County Hospital Alliance was established in 2002 to advise the County of ongoing hospital capital needs. It is comprised of CEOs of all hospitals located in Simcoe County as well as Newmarket, and aims to ensure equitable distribution of available funding from the County to Alliance hospitals.
Since 1994 the County has provided $62.2 million to the hospitals in Simcoe County and Southlake, with the current $30 million commitment ending in 2016.
