By Rik Ganderton
President and CEO
Rouge Valley Health System
On Sunday, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care announced a $667 million funding boost for Ontario hospitals to address new beds, more surgeries and shorter wait times.
While the actual amount for Rouge Valley Health System is still be to announced by the Central East Local Health Integration Network, we are pleased to receive any additional funding and thank the Ministry.
It is important to note that this additional funding does not change our financial challenge. We remain focused on implementing our Deficit Elimination Plan so that we can effectively reduce our $78 million long-term debt and working capital deficit. These additional funds will be a positive first step in getting our financial house in order so that we can better focus on the future healthcare needs of our communities in west Durham and east Toronto.
Our plan is about more than simply reducing our debts and deficit. Rouge Valley is now focusing on performing at higher standards of effectiveness, as other hospitals do. You’ve heard me say it many times in our Town Halls, but it’s worth repeating: we know we can bring ourselves to the benchmarks of the best hospitals in Ontario—a top quartile performer rather than average, or worse. Rather than aiming for the median, or average, Rouge Valley is now striving for top-quartile performance in quality and effectiveness.
Having met many of you during the last year, I know we have the dedicated, high quality staff, physicians and volunteers to achieve this.
Details of our Deficit Elimination Plan are available on the Intranet.