The new wing at Belleville hospital is rising at an impressive rate and, when finished, will add 77 beds to the facility.So lemme get this straight... nice new building... but we're gonna have to pare down the number of doctors, nurses and medical technicians?
Yet, Quinte Health Care, with 324 beds currently at its four sites, can't balance its budget and will most likely have to reduce services and staff associated with those services. It faces millions of dollars in projected red ink this fiscal year and next.
There is a big hole in the operational pot, QHC officials have determined, leading to a deficit of $6.7 million this fiscal year and another $8 million the following year.Yeah... that'll fix everything.
The regional health body that controls the bulk of health-care funding in this area -- the South East Local Health Integration Network -- ordered QHC to have a plan in place to erase the red ink by Dec. 21.
If not, the hospital could be taken over by the province, as happened earlier this year at Kingston General Hospital.
"Ontario's Liberal government has paid out almost $1 billion to private companies to cover new hospital construction overruns, a coalition of community health organizations said Friday."Just another blatant example of the "McSlippery Doctrine" in action.
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FROM THE COMMENTS:
"If health care is so important to Canadians, why do we let the government run it?"*