August 23rd Weekly Update

Healthcare

This past Thursday, the  Ontario Government introduced the Plan to Stay Open: Health System Stability and Recovery.

This is a five-point plan to provide the best care possible to patients and residents while ensuring the resources and supports are in place to keep the province and economy open. The plan further bolsters Ontario’s health care workforce, expands innovative models of care and ensures hospital beds are there for patients when they need them.

The plan will hire up to 6,000 additional health care workers, free up 2,500 more hospital beds and will temporarily cover cost of examination, application and registration fees for retired and internationally trained nurses.

Here are a few other highlights from the plan:

– Ontario is expanding the hugely successful 9-1-1 models of care to include additional ailments and is now giving paramedics the flexibility to provide better, more appropriate care. Patients diverted from emergency departments through these models received the care they needed up to 17 times faster with 94 per cent of patients avoiding the emergency department in the days following treatment.

– Timely access to surgery is important for keeping patients healthy and reducing pressure on the health care system in the long-term. That is why the government is investing over $300 million in 2022–23 as part of the province’s surgical recovery strategy, bringing the total investment to $880 million over the last three fiscal years.

– Ontario is investing more to increase surgeries in paediatric hospitals and existing private clinics covered by OHIP, as well as to fund more than 150,000 additional operating hours for hospital-based MRI and CT machines.

– Ontario is also launching a new provincial emergency department peer-to-peer program to provide additional on-demand, real-time support and coaching from experienced emergency physicians to aid in the management of patients presenting to rural emergency departments.

– Ontario is adding 400 physician residents to support the workforce in northern and rural Ontario.

– Ontario is working with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario to expedite the registration of doctors, including those from out-of-province and who may want to work in rural and northern emergency departments, so they can start working and caring for patients sooner.

To read the full plan, please click here.

Working with Municipalities

Last week, at the 2022 Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference in Ottawa, the government of Ontario announced new funding to support critical public services. The Provincial government is working with its municipal partners to build strong, thriving communities and making significant, additional investments to enhance and protect the critical public services Ontarians rely on everyday.

For instance, the government is investing nearly $764 million in funding to assist municipalities with the cost of land ambulance operations. This represents an average increase of five per cent provincially compared to 2021-22 funding levels.

Additionally, Ontario is providing approximately $47 million through to the end of 2023 to public health units and municipalities to ensure they have the financial stability to deliver key services across the province during this critical time. This is in addition to continuing the increased investments to support the public health sector’s response to COVID-19.

Ontario has invested nearly $4.4 billion over the past three years to grow and enhance community and supportive housing for vulnerable Ontarians and Indigenous people, address homelessness, and respond to COVID-19. This includes over $1.2 billion through the Social Services Relief Fund to help municipal service managers and Indigenous program administrators create longer-term housing solutions and help vulnerable Ontarians – one of the biggest investments made in affordable housing and homelessness supports in the province’s history.

You can read the transcript of the speech delivered by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing at the AMO conference by clicking here.

Ontario Grant to Support Anti-Hate Security Measures

The Ontario government is currently providing grants of up to $10,000 through the Ontario Grant to Support Anti-Hate Security Measures for Faith-Based and Cultural Organizations to protect communities against hate motivated crimes and build a more inclusive province where people can continue to safely gather.
 
The application deadline is August 31, 2022 at 11:59 p.m.
 
You can apply and learn more about this grant by clicking here.
 
The government is providing up to $15 million to help faith-based and cultural organizations provide a safer place to gather and connect with your community.
 
The funds from this program can be used to cover expenses to implement additional security and safety measures such as security equipment and building enhancements (e.g. graffiti removal, motion detectors, CCTV cameras), security assessments and specialized staff training.
 

My constituency office is open Monday to Friday from 10AM to 4PM. If you have any questions or concerns we’re readily available to assist. You can also reach us by phone at (416) 781-2395 or by email at robin.martin@pc.ola.org.

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