CEO and President of DRHC Doreen Armstrong Ross and MPP Greg Rickford. Photo Courtesy of MPP Rickford's Twitter Page.
The Dryden Regional Health Centre is one of three hospitals in the region benefiting from provincial funding.
MPP Greg Rickford announced the Ontario government is investing $281,537 to support critical health care infrastructure upgrades, repairs, and maintenance in Dryden.
This funding is part of the government’s $175 million investment through the Health Infrastructure Renewal Fund to help Ontario’s hospitals address urgent infrastructure renewal needs like upgrades or replacements of roofs, windows, security systems, fire alarms and backup generators.
“Our government is committed to helping hospitals in Northwestern Ontario combat financial pressures created by COVID-19,” said Greg Rickford, MPP for Kenora–Rainy River. “We stand behind our health care and frontline workers in Dryden and surrounding region and will continue to use every tool at our disposal to assist wherever we can.”
Chief Executive Officer and President Doreen Armstrong Ross explains what the money will be used for at DRHC.
“It’s going to be focused on two projects, one being improvement into our medical air system throughout the organization and another bigger project we’re doing is some improvements to our central sterile reprocessing area-where all the equipment goes to get ready for surgeries.”
Armstrong Ross continues, “This funding is critical to on going maintenance. Our building is aging and we have a really excellent crew here that keep it going in tip top shape but things get used and need to get changed out, improved. This fund is really key to keeping organizations, their infrastructure, able to provide modern medicine.”
The hospital also received almost $1.2 million part of $696.6 million in funding to strengthen public hospitals’ financial stability.
“We appreciate the acknowledgement of the financial pressures that Dryden Regional Health Centre has been facing since before COVID-19, which have only been exacerbated by the pandemic. The Working Funds Initiative allocation will have a positive impact on DRHCs financial stability.”
