Hamilton – Neil Lumsden, MPP for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, announced the Ontario government is investing $1,220,881 via the Hospital On-Call Coverage (HOCC) Program, for Hamilton hospitals to support more on-call funding for doctors working after hours. This funding will help Hamilton patients to continue to get the care they need in-hospital, right when and where they need it.

The hospitals in Hamilton receiving this funding are the Hamilton Health Sciences Children’s Hospital, General Hospital, West Lincoln Memorial Hospital, Juravinski Hospital, and St. Joseph’s Healthcare.

“The HOCC funding will assist our Hamilton hospitals to provide on-call coverage, especially for the provision of emergency and after-hours care,” said Neil Lumsden, MPP. “This funding was frozen by the previous Liberal government, and I am pleased that this program has been re-established and that our community is benefiting from it.”

This funding follows through on previous agreements between the Ontario Medical Association and Ontario Ministry of Health to increase dedicated funding for physicians on-call. This funding will support on-call coverage at nearly 100 acute-care hospitals in Ontario.

This funding will support after-hours care and allow for more stable after-hours coverage. 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.

“Our government is ensuring hospitals have the funds needed so that their doctors can deliver high-quality care at any time of the day or night” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “For patients visiting hospitals across Ontario, this funding means they’ll receive the care they need when it is needed.” 

For health care to help, it needs to happen in a timely manner. With Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care, the Ontario government is making it easier for people and families to get the care they need faster, when and where they need it.

Quick Facts:

• The province invests over $259 million in funding to support on-call coverage in acute-care hospitals across Ontario.
• This funding includes a $12.5 million investment from the 2021 Physician Services Agreement with the Ontario Medical Association which also commits to a fundamental re-design of the Hospital On-Call Coverage program into a burden-based funding model. This ensures equitable distribution of funding across physicians providing on-call services.
• Over the last three years, the province has added more than 3,500 hospital beds across the province. Through 50 new major hospital development projects, Ontario will add another 3,000 new hospital beds over the next 10 years.