The Ontario government has announced additional money to provide more on-call funding for doctors working after hours in Windsor.
The province is investing $222,588, funding that will be shared by Windsor Regional Hospital's Ouellette and Metropolitan sites.
The Ouellette campus will receive $181,677, while the Met campus will get $33,911.
Andrew Dowie, Conservative MPP for Windsor-Tecumseh, says this is intended to provide incentives to practitioners who've already worked their full week but coverage is still needed in the after hours and weekends.
"It's an opportunity to ensure that it's not base funding from the regular hospital system that's effected but that this is a dedicated program to recognize that with the challenges that exist, we are giving some additional incentives for our practitioners," he says. "If they're willing to work some more, they get proper compensation for it."
The increase in base funding, the first since 2015, will result in $3,178,922 being allocated to the Ouellette campus and $3,198,922 for the Met location for 2023-2024.
The province says this investment recognizes the efforts of health care workers, especially those who provide on-call services in addition to their regular working hours whenever hospitals need it.
Dowie says it's important that sacrifice in helping out with the system is recognized.
"The existing program was frozen in 2015 and now we're adding to the program to make it reflective of today's demands," he adds.
In all, the province is investing $259 million to support on-call coverage in acute-care hospitals across Ontario.
This funding will support after-hours care and allow for more stable after-hours coverage.
The province says this investment recognizes the efforts of health care workers, especially those who provide on-call services in addition to their regular working hours whenever hospitals need it.