Liberal Cuts Hurting Barrie’s Royal Victoria Hospital

Yesterday, Barrie’s Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) revealed it was forced to find $4.4 million in savings to balance their 2017-18 budget. While the hospital was successful in finding $1.6 million in efficiencies, skyrocketing energy costs and the Liberal Government’s failure to adequately fund Ontario hospitals means that the jobs of 22 RVH employees are at risk.   

“This is the third year in a row that I’ve had to speak out about this government’s failure to fund for patient demand and the pressure increasing hydro rates have put on RVH’s budget process,” said Ontario PC Leader Patrick Brown. In 2015-16 and 2016-17, RVH faced funding gaps of $8 million and $10.6 million respectively. 

“RVH delivers incredible quality patient care by extremely hardworking frontline staff,” said Brown.  “With last year’s nominal increase in hospital funding after four years of frozen budgets, it’s clear that this government’s plan for hospitals is not sustainable. It’s time for the Wynne Liberals to stop growing Ontario’s bloated health bureaucracy and start investing in frontline care.”