Ontario Acting on Expert Report for Scarborough and Durham Health Care

Ontario Acting on Expert Report for Scarborough and Durham Health Care

– Scarborough, ON

Today, Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, supported the implementation of recommendations from the final report of the Scarborough/West Durham Panel related to hospital governance, service delivery and planning to give patients better access to care in the community.

The Central East Local Health Integration Network – a geographic catchment area of local health coordination – serves more than 1.4 million residents, or 11 per cent of Ontario’s population. This large community requires expert advice on how to ensure that people get the best acute care possible.

Drawing from extensive community consultations, the expert panel, led by Dr. Barry McLellan, provided recommendations to improve integration and access to hospital services in the Scarborough and Durham regions.

Starting today, Ontario is taking the next steps:
•Mr. Mark Rochon has been appointed as a special advisor to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, and will advance the integration efforts between hospitals in the Scarborough and Durham regions.
•Ontario will be providing capital funding to The Scarborough Hospital to better integrate and expand diagnostic imaging services at the General Campus. This investment will translate to improved services in radiography, fluoroscopy, interventional imaging, cross sectional imaging, CT scanning, ultrasound, breast imaging and nuclear medicine.
•Ontario will also be providing up to $5 million for a planning grant to develop a Master Plan for each of the Scarborough and Durham region hospitals. This will inform any future major capital redevelopments. This planning grant will also support the redevelopment of the Emergency Department at Rouge Valley Health System Centenary site.

The province also announced a new investment of over $10 million in local hospitals as part of the 2016 Budget, which includes:
•$4.5 million in increased operating funds for Rouge Valley Health System
•$2.9 million in new operating funding for The Scarborough Hospital
•An additional $2.6 million in operating funding for Lakeridge Health

Improving access to local health care and investing in hospitals is part of the government’s plan to build a better Ontario through its Patients First: Action Plan for Health Care, which is providing patients with faster access to the right care; better home and community care; the information they need to live healthy; and a health care system that is sustainable for generations to come.

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