Ford government invests over $700M to reduce surgery backlog

Ontario’s government announced it is investing $741 million to help clear the backlog of surgeries and build more capacity in the health care system.

Premier Doug Ford and Minister of Health, Christine Elliott, both said this is being done to effectively manage surges and outbreaks in COVID-19 cases.

“These measures taken together will ensure our hospitals will care for COVID-19 patients,” Ford said during his daily briefing.

“We need to make sure surgeries are not delayed and that we have enough hospital beds.”

Elliott says we are living in unprecedented times forcing the Ford government to take extreme measures to keep the province safe.

“This investment is essential to help more patients waiting for surgeries and other procedures get the care they need faster and help reduce the burden on our system,” Elliott said.

“To ensure that the health system is prepared to respond to any surges of COVID-19 without interrupting routine health services, we are also increasing capacity in-home and community care and expanding digital and virtual health care services.”

Ford also announced that up to 18 more pharmacies across Ontario, including locations in St. Catherines and Niagara Falls, will begin testing patients for the virus.

 

Government’s Fall Preparedness Plan

The province’s COVID-19 fall preparedness plan, Keeping Ontarians Safe: Preparing for Future Waves of COVID-19, is based on six pillars, which will:

• Maintain strong public health measures, including continued expansion of testing and case and contact management;

 

• Quickly identify, manage and prevent COVID-19 outbreaks

 

• Accelerate efforts to reduce health service backlogs

 

• Prepare for surges in COVID-19 cases

 

• Recruit, retain, train and support health care workers, while also continuing to engage families and caregivers

 

• Implement the largest flu immunization campaign in Ontario’s history