"RVH a role model for other hospitals" says Premier McGuinty

Royal Victoria Hospital has proven itself to be a provincial leader in reducing wait times for patients, according to Premier Dalton McGuinty who visited the hospital today to see first-hand the remarkable progress made.

"RVH must serve as a role model for other hospitals. There are some great best practices at RVH that should be shared with other hospitals," said Premier McGuinty. "RVH's tremendous success is a testament to the skills, dedication and know-how of the RVH staff. Thank you to those people who commit themselves to patient care in this fabulous institution."

Premier McGuinty was welcomed to RVH by a crowd of cheering volunteers, who were also celebrating National Volunteer Week. As he toured the hospital's Diagnostic Imaging Department and Cancer Clinic, he spoke with many front-line health care providers and patients about the positive impact of the wait time funding.

"Our hospital is solid proof that the province's wait time strategy is working for Ontario's patients," remarked Janice Skot, RVH President and Chief Executive Officer. "RVH has seen its wait times decrease significantly over the past three years because of the additional funding, combined with the hard work and dedication of our staff. The impact on a patient's ability to access specialized care in Simcoe- Muskoka has been remarkable."

Over the past 3 years, RVH has received over $8 million in wait time funding from the provincial government which, by the end of this fiscal year, will have allowed RVH to perform over 1,000 additional cancer, cataract and joint surgeries and provide more than 10,000 additional MRI and CT hours. The result has been RVH's wait times are down significantly in every single category. For instance, the wait for cancer surgery has dropped 40 percent. Meanwhile RVH has gone from having the longest wait time in the province for MRI (over a year) to an average eight weeks today.

In a news release issued by the Premier's office, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care George Smitherman said, "Patients are getting the care they need faster, thanks to the efforts of front-line health care workers in Barrie. We are proud of what we've achieved through our Wait Times Strategy and we will continue to build on our success."

Dr. Alan Hudson, Lead of Ontario's Wait Times Strategy also recognized RVH's success, "The rubber hits the road when health transformation policies are operationalized at the hospital level, and a large team of providers got behind Janice Skot, CEO of the Royal Victoria Hospital, to ensure success."