Local hospitals expect to balance books despite COVID-19 expenses thanks to provincial budget

The provincial budget included $1.8 billion for hospitals — and the CEOs of two local hospitals say that will help them balance their books after an expensive pandemic.

Marianne Walker, president and CEO of Guelph General Hospital, said they had to shell out a lot of cash upfront to open extra beds, including more ICU beds, hire a significant number of staff and buy personal protection equipment.

"We were running quite a high deficit, but we were really pleased that the government recognized the need to fund these additional expenses and loss of revenue," she said in an interview on CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition. "At the end of this year, we will probably end up with a balanced budget."

Ron Gagnon, president and CEO of Grand River Hospital in Kitchener, agreed with Walker. He said other funding in the amount of $1.2 billion announced last week to help hospitals with their deficits will go a long way.

"We'll end the year in a similar position, with a balanced position from operations and then a bump from that working capital deficit assistance will help us and result in a surplus for our organization at the end of the year, which helps to stabilize our organization as we move forward," he said.

In a tweet, St. Mary's General Hospital president Lee Fairclough echoed those sentiments, saying the budget "will help hospitals serve our communities through this pandemic, address the backlogs in care and needed capacity (particularly given growth in our region) and support recovery."

Shift to pandemic recovery

As more people are vaccinated, and hopefully fewer beds and resources are needed to handle the influx of COVID-19 patients, Gagnon said the focus will shift to catching up in areas where surgeries and services were paused.

"Just to give you a sense, you know, in our top five surgeries, we've got about 1,200 people that are waiting on our waitlists. And at the end of the year, we'll probably end up having done about 70 per cent of the surgical volume that we did the previous year," he said.

"So the $300 million that's been announced for helping with this catch up is great."

He said Grand River Hospital typically has seven operating rooms, but they can go up to 10.

"Our recovery plan looks at us operating most, if not all those on a regular basis to be able to work through that backlog," he said.

Walker said there were problems with bed shortages before the pandemic. For quite a few years, she said Guelph General Hospital was delivering hallway medicine, with eight to 10 beds in a hallway. She said they also know with COVID-19, many people have avoided going to the hospital for care.

"We can't go back to hallway medicine. It doesn't provide the best care and it also has greater risks now with COVID," she said.

"This funding is one time, but all the hospitals in Waterloo-Wellington need additional beds to just look after the patients, prior even to the pandemic."

What's needed

Walker said going forward, what needs to be considered is how the Ontario Health Teams are ensuring the community can stay healthy. The Ontario Health Teams group healthcare providers together with a goal to make the patient experience easier as they transition from one provider to another.

Walker said that will need to mean investments in long-term care beds and community services like mental health and addiction.

Gagnon said Grand River and St. Mary's General Hospital in Kitchener are currently focused on what's next in the coming 12 to 24 months.

"We're working really hard right now on a plan for infrastructure renewal, acute care, which is much, much needed. And what I would anticipate is next year, when you see that listing of hospitals with commitments to longer term infrastructure investments from the province, you will see regional Waterloo hospitals," he said.