The Ontario government has pledged nearly $3 million to improve the Lake of the Woods District Hospital and to help keep their costs under control through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Kenora – Rainy River MPP, Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Minister of Northern Development, Greg Rickford, visited the hospital to announce the $2,971,401 funding announcement earlier this week, which includes just under $1.4 million for infrastructure upgrades.
“Our government is ensuring hospitals and health service providers in the Northwest have the facilities and the financial resources to continue providing quality health care services to our community,” explains Rickford.
“We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our health care partners in Kenora and will continue to make targeted investments that will lead to improved health outcomes for Northerners.”
Rickford adds that the hospital can use the funding for upgrades such as replacing roofs, windows, security systems, fire alarms and backup generators.
Ontario is also providing the LWDH with a number of one-time funding programs to support the hospital as it continues to navigate the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Funding is broken down as:
- $933,322 – reimbursement of hospitals’ COVID-19 expenses between April and June, 2022
- $51,153 – reimbursement of health human resource expenses for the same months,
- $320,200 – 2022-23 fiscal year for pandemic prevention and containment costs,
Rickford helped to make a similar announcement in Dryden earlier this week. On December 20, the Minister announced an $870,000 investment into the Dryden Regional Health Centre. They’re receiving $344,000 for upgrades and roughly $530,000 in extra funding.
The funding is all part of Ontario’s $182 million investment through the Health Infrastructure Renewal Fund and the Community Infrastructure Renewal Fund to 131 hospitals and 65 community health service providers across the province.