Investments will connect people in Windsor-Essex with more cancer and cardiac treatment close to home
As the Ontario government accelerates the timeline to build the new Windsor Regional Hospital, it is investing approximately $30 million in the current hospital to connect people with improved treatments for patients with cancer and cardiovascular disease. This funding will make it easier for more patients in the Windsor-Essex Region to be diagnosed and treated closer to home.
“Our government is giving Windsor Regional Hospital the funds it needs to provide the best possible care to patients in the region while we work towards building a new and modern hospital,” said Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “This means that patients in the area will no longer have to travel far distances to receive treatment, leading to faster care and improved quality of life.”
Windsor Regional Hospital will use this investment to renovate its cardiac catheterization lab, which is where patients receive angiograms, angioplasties and other minimally invasive cardiac tests and procedures. Due to limited access in the past, patients had to travel to London, two-hours away, or cross the border to Detroit for urgent procedures. This funding will expand the catheterization lab, currently operating 24-hours a day, to add a second catheterization table offering continual and convenient access for cardiac patients in the region.
In addition, this investment will enable the hospital to expand its cancer centre to accommodate a new linear accelerator, which provides cancer patients with necessary radiation therapy treatment. This additional linear accelerator will allow Windsor Regional Hospital to treat more cancer patients with life-saving radiation therapy even sooner than before.
Over the last year, Ontario has made significant health care investments in Windsor-Essex, including the creation of a new Ontario Health Team and $1.1 million in funding to help integrate health care services in the region.
To support growing demands on the health care system, Ontario will create $40 billion in health infrastructure across the province over the next ten years. These investments will increase capacity in hospitals, build new health care facilities and renew existing hospitals and community health centres.