Timmins' hospital is getting an $8.6-million boost.
Today, MPP George Pirie was at Timmins and District Hospital to announce two funding streams — $1.36 million to help reduce wait times in the emergency department and $7.26 million for 38 support beds in 2023-24.
“Our government is ensuring that the people of Timmins have safe, reliable and timely access to healthcare in our community,” said Pirie.
The 38 beds supported with the one-time cash are at St. Mary's Gardens.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, president and CEO Kate Fyfe said 29 beds were opened at the off-site facility for patients needing alternate level of care, the majority who were waiting to be placed in a longterm facility.
Today's announcement has increased the number of beds at the facility by nine.
The hospital's emergency department, said Fyfe, continues to have an "extremely high volume" of visits.
The $1.36 million announced is in addition to the cash the province provides each year "to reward emergency departments that put in place innovative solutions to reduce ED wait times," according to the announcement.
Fyfe said the emergency department is monitored on a number of different measures.
Because of strategies that the hospital is using, she said that from a performance perspective, the facility ranks high in keeping its wait times low.
"So what that means is that when a patient comes into the department, they’re triaged and they’re able to see a physician below the provincial standards,” she said.
Health Quality Ontario, which is part of Ontario Health, tracks emergency department wait times.
On average, according to the site, patients waited 1.3 hours for an initial assessment by a doctor at the Timmins emergency department. The Ontario average is 2 hours.
The local hospital is also below the provincial target times in the other categories.
On average, low-urgency patients not admitted to the hospital spent two hours in emergency, which is below the provincial target time of four hours.
High-urgency patients not admitted to hospital spent an average of 2.7 hours in emergency. The provincial target time is eight hours.
The average length of stay in emergency for all patients admitted to the hospital is 6.1 hours. This is the area the hospital scored the lowest in, with 80 per cent of patients being admitted to the hospital from the emergency department within the provincial target of eight hours.
