OSMH launches new campaign in hopes of receiving help from province
The Orillia Soldiers' Memorial Hospital has launched a campaign called "Start Today. Serve Tomorrow."
The awareness campaign urges Ontario's government to include a capital planning grant to build a new acute care hospital in the 2023 spring budget.
OSMH officials say Orillia urgently needs a larger hospital designed and built to modern standards.
"We need to upgrade, we need to modernize our health care facility, we need to improve the health and well-being of our community," says Orillia Soldiers President and CEO Carmine Stumpo.
OSMH is the oldest hospital in the region, with parts of the hospital built over 100 years ago.
"There are critical care areas over 70 years old. We are supporting the care needs of newborns in buildings that were never created for this kind of care, and what we need is to move forward with those modernized upgraded standards," says Stumpo.
Over the decades, more patient beds were added. Still, officials say the outdated building needs to catch up with escalating patient demand, especially with many patients travelling from out of town.
"Staying with their children in hospital, sometimes when their babies are in a nursery, it would be nice for them to have more room for them to stay, and the new standard for NICU is to have standard single-family rooms…and we lack that," says OSMH pediatrician program medical director Dr. Sarah Barker.
According to the Ontario Hospital Association, OSMH had the highest occupancy rate of all medium and large hospitals in Ontario in 2021-2022. The hospital currently operates at 141% of its baseline-funded bed count, pushing the hospital well over the physical capacity of its current building.
Based on population projections, the hospital will need 102 additional beds by 2035.
Orillia's population has grown twice as fast as the rest of Ontario over the past five years and is expected to keep climbing by nearly 45% over the next 25 years.
A new acute care hospital will allow OSMH to provide timely care to more patients by increasing critical care resources, ICU beds and inpatient beds and providing more services to women and children.
The campaign is asking community members to take action by sending a letter to the Minister of Health and promoting the campaign on social media.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
2 military horses that broke free and ran loose across London are in serious condition
Two military horses that bolted and ran miles through the streets of London after being spooked by construction noise and tossing their riders were in a serious condition and required operations, a British government official said Thursday.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
Made-in-Newfoundland vodka claims top prize at worldwide competition
A Newfoundland-made vodka has been named one of the world’s best by judges at this year’s World Vodka Awards.