No CMH cuts: MPP
By Lisa Rutledge, Times Staff
News
Mar 05, 2009

Cash-strapped hospitals may end up further in debt now that the province is forecasting an $18-billion deficit over two years, worries Cambridge MPP Gerry Martiniuk.

That’s why he’s calling on the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care to change the way it funds hospitals.

Provincial governments have allotted funding to hospitals based on “historical costs”, he said, but have come up with last-minute top-up funding for hospitals. Now the MPP fears tough economic times might make such eleventh-hour grants impossible.

“Unfortunately, now we don’t have a lot money.”

By introducing a petition demanding the government introduce population-needs based funding to hospitals, Martiniuk ultimately hopes to prevent future deficits at Cambridge Memorial Hospital. The hospital is forecasting a $3.5 million deficit this fiscal year and is facing an operational review to balance its budget.

However, the MPP is hopeful the review will prove the hospital can’t cut any more services and results in more funds to get the hospital out of the red.

“I just don’t want to see cuts to the quality of health care,” he said.

Meanwhile, Martiniuk’s Bill 137 will receive a second reading today in Queen’s Park. The bill requires schools to have staff trained to monitor daily blood sugar levels of elementary students who suffer from diabetes.