Health Minister Sylvia Jones has touted that the program helped avoid nearly 1,500 temporary ER closures last summer, but while it expired on March 31, she did not announce until today that the government would renew it for another summer.
She says the ministry will monitor the success of the program and will assess how best to support emergency departments in the summer of 2024 and beyond.
At least one northern hospital has said the lack of funding since April has led to temporary ER closures, but with the funding announcement today, their summer staffing situation is looking far more promising.
Many northern and rural hospitals rely on doctors from urban areas filling shifts on what is known as a locum basis, and this program was created during the pandemic to pay those doctors a premium for that work.