London Cardiac Fitness Institute Forced to Close its Doors

Today, PC Health Critic Jeff Yurek questioned the Wynne Liberals for refusing to step in and prevent the closure of the London Health Science Centre’s Cardiac Fitness Institute (CFI).

Established in 1981, the CFI provides rehabilitation and fitness education for patients who suffer from serious heart problems, serving roughly 1,600 individuals each year. The preventative care provided by the CFI has been shown to both reduce the number of patients readmitted to the hospital for heart issues, and save the health care system millions of dollars.

“Once again we are seeing the results of years of Liberal cuts and underfunding to our health care system,” said Yurek.

The London Health Science Centre cited the reason for the closure as “the funding environment has become increasingly challenging”. This has resulted in their inability to fund 50 per cent of the program’s cost, or $150,000.

“Considering the low cost of this important program and how many lives it positively impacts each year, it’s astonishing the government would allow for its closure,” said Yurek.

“This government has failed to ensure our hospitals have the resources they need to help patients, resulting in overcrowding, a reduction of services and a level of care that no one should expect in a province like Ontario.”