{"id":31144,"date":"2025-12-17T10:16:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-17T15:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?p=31144"},"modified":"2025-12-17T10:16:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-17T15:16:00","slug":"sault-area-hospital-fears-it-will-not-duck-significant-shortfall-this-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/sault-area-hospital-fears-it-will-not-duck-significant-shortfall-this-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Sault Area Hospital fears it will not duck \u2018significant\u2019 shortfall – this time"},"content":{"rendered":"

(December 16, 2025) By: Jeffrey Ougler, The Sault Star<\/p>\n

$20M fiscal 2025\/26 deficit looms; no \u2018signals\u2019 of incremental funding that cushioned previous year\u2019s bottom line<\/em><\/p>\n

Call it a sign of the times \u2013\u00a0or,\u00a0perhaps,\u00a0lack\u00a0of signs.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n
\n

Sault Area Hospital<\/span><\/a>\u00a0had\u00a0feared\u00a0a\u00a0deficit as high as $30 million\u00a0for the fiscal\u00a0year\u00a0ending\u00a0March 31, 2025, but wrapped the year with only a\u00a0$1.5-million\u00a0shortfall.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\u201cSo, a considerable change,\u201d the result of receiving increments of funding within that fiscal year on \u201cseveral occasions,\u201d SAH president and CEO Ila Watson told board members and senior staff Monday evening.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Turn the clock ahead. In 2025-26, when SAH created its operating plan for the year starting April 2025, it again\u00a0anticipated\u00a0a \u201csignificant\u201d deficit,\u00a0as high as $25 million. And when it\u00a0forecasts\u00a0now to the end of this year, March 2026,\u00a0the region\u2019s principal\u00a0health-care\u00a0facility\u00a0expects\u00a0a $20-million shortfall.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With a twist.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe most significantly different thing between this year and last year\u00a0is that\u00a0last year there was an expectation \u2026 there were signals in the environment that we would receive incremental funding within the year,\u201d Watson said. \u201cIt does not seem that those same signals are there this year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\u201cThis is concerning.\u00a0We\u00a0remain\u00a0concerned and currently have that expectation of a significant deficit.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Watson said the hospital is working \u201cdiligently\u201d with Ontario Health and the Ministry of Health to address fiscal \u201cuncertainty.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>So,<\/span>\u00a0our\u00a0<\/span>operating plans for 2026-27 do have some uncertainty due to funding and policy variables we will continue to work on,\u201d Watson said.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

SAH says\u00a0maintaining\u00a0current operations\u00a0through to\u00a02026-27 will result in a deficit of approximately $31 million in addition to the projected\u00a0shortfall\u00a0for\u00a0this year.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a considerable amount of work to do,\u201d Watson said. \u201cWe are focusing on efficiencies, revenue opportunities, improvements in\u00a0utilization\u00a0of hospital services.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

One such revenue \u201copportunity\u201d included a recent parking rate adjustment that will see,\u00a0<\/span>effective Dec. 31, SAH\u2019s per exit fee increase from $6 to $7.50 for patients, visitors and the public. On Jan. 1, parking rates will also increase for staff and physicians.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

SAH says Ontario hospitals rely on parking fees as a revenue source to supplement government funding, and parking revenues are used both to offset maintenance costs and to generate revenue, supporting \u201cvital\u201d community patient care programs.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ontario hospitals\u00a0<\/span>must publicly post parking revenue<\/span><\/span><\/a>. Parking\u00a0revenue for the\u00a0fiscal year is posted on SAH\u2019s website. Assuming maintenance costs and parking volumes\u00a0remain\u00a0stable, the proposed rates will increase net annual parking revenue by $480,000. Parking revenue is split\u00a0almost evenly\u00a0between staff and the public.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n

\n

This parking rate increase was contemplated for several years<\/a><\/span> but deferred due to the COVID-19 pandemic and inflationary economic pressures, SAH told The Sault Star earlier.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat is part of multi-measured plans,\u201d Watson said\u00a0Monday evening. \u201cIt is a move that we had to make, having left those rates unchanged for 10 years.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0an important source of revenue for us.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Not surprisingly,\u00a0<\/span>not\u00a0everyone\u00a0applaude<\/span>d<\/span><\/a>\u00a0the rate hike.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A charity that assists SAH cancer patients with parking costs was \u201ctaken back pretty good\u201d when<\/span>\u00a0SAH informed it<\/span><\/span><\/a> of the\u00a0rate\u00a0increase.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a\u00a0good\u00a0news story for us at all,\u201d said\u00a0Dennis\u00a0Dinelle, whose late wife, Tracy, adopted an activist role following her 2012 cancer diagnosis, being instrumental in the launch of\u00a0<\/span>Tracy\u2019s Dream<\/span><\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And Ontario Health Coalition, which advocates for publicly funded health care,\u00a0pooh-poohed the increase \u2013 OHC opposes the practice\u00a0of paid\u00a0hospital\u00a0parking\u00a0\u2013\u00a0but acknowledged\u00a0Ontario\u00a0hospitals\u00a0are mandated to charge for parking.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Click here for the original article<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(December 16, 2025) By: Jeffrey Ougler, The Sault Star $20M fiscal 2025\/26 deficit looms; no \u2018signals\u2019 of incremental funding that cushioned previous year\u2019s bottom line Call it a sign of the times \u2013\u00a0or,\u00a0perhaps,\u00a0lack\u00a0of signs.\u00a0 Sault Area Hospital\u00a0had\u00a0feared\u00a0a\u00a0deficit as high as $30 million\u00a0for the fiscal\u00a0year\u00a0ending\u00a0March 31, 2025, but wrapped the year with only a\u00a0$1.5-million\u00a0shortfall.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSo, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nSault Area Hospital fears it will not duck \u2018significant\u2019 shortfall - this time - Ontario Health Coalition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(December 16, 2025) By: Jeffrey Ougler, The Sault Star $20M fiscal 2025\/26 deficit looms; 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