March 11, 2022
On Friday March 11, Dr. Jackie Schleifer Taylor, President and CEO, London Health Sciences Centre, (LHSC), and Phyllis Retty, LHSC Board Chair, joined Monte McNaughton, MPP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, for an Ontario government COVID-19 funding announcement.
Following the announcement, Minister McNaughton, Dr. Schleifer Taylor, Retty, and Carol Young-Ritchie, Executive Vice President viewed “Who We Are: A tribute to LHSC's humans of health care” photo display.
LHSC, which is receiving nearly $15 million, will be using the funds to mitigate additional costs from the past 24 months because of increased ICU capacity and the need to purchase ventilators and other critical equipment.
“These last two years have been a time of challenge and sacrifice, for healthcare workers, and for our community. COVID-19 has put additional strain on our daily operations, including redeploying our staff to high need areas, adopting virtual care, and expanding our business to help with vaccination and assessment,” said Dr. Schleifer Taylor. “These measures required investments to allow our health-care teams to meet the needs of our community. We're appreciative of the government’s recognition of this fact, as represented by this investment. We look forward to working closely together with the government to ensure we continue to provide exceptional patient-centric care.”
While hospitals face increased financial pressure because of rising costs associated with COVID-19, they are also dealing with the loss of revenue from retail operations, parking, and other services - all of which contribute to patient care and support clinical services.
“Our hospitals are the foundation of the communities they serve, providing critical life-saving services to those who need it most,” said Monte McNaughton, MPP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex. “Our government will continue to make historic investments in healthcare, so everyone has access to timely, quality care that is close to home.”