This week Health Minister Deb Matthews told the media that 36 hospitals will have their budgets cut by as much as three per cent as the new hospital funding formula rolls out.
The statement leaves many questions, including which hospitals are going to lose revenue as the government shifts to a blended funding model. The Health Minister gives no clue as to what the base funding will look like – for that we have to wait for the March 27 provincial budget. The South East LHIN has told its hospitals to expect no increase in base funding, while some hospitals elsewhere in the province say they are planning for a one per cent base increase.
The Drummond Commission on Public Service Reform recommends a 2.5 per cent increase in health care funding over each of the next four years, but most of that is intended to go to community-based care, not hospitals. Over the summer the Ontario Auditor General warned that a 3.6 per cent increase in overall health care funding would likely put hospitals back into deficit or require significant cuts to services.
OPSEU Diablogue 