Redeveloping LHSC to meet future health needs will require local financial contribution

Sign outside London Health Sciences Centre in London, Ont. on Feb. 7, 2023. (Daryl Newcombe/CTV News London)

Hospital-based healthcare is usually considered a financial responsibility of the provincial government, but an upcoming plan to reimagine and redevelop the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) will also require local funding.

On Tuesday, President and CEO of LHSC Dr. Jackie Schleifer Taylor told a city council committee about the development of the hospital’s upcoming master plan aimed at meeting the healthcare needs of the community for decades to come.

“Our obligation, duty, and commitment [is] to partner in this, and our assurance to the City of London and Londoners [that] everything possible is being done to make the best plan,” Schleifer Taylor told the committee.

As the community hospital for Ontario’s fastest growing city, LHSC detailed several challenges predicted by 2040:

• Inpatient beds = 60 per cent increase
• Day surgeries = 20 per cent increase
• Inpatient surgeries = 25 per cent increase
• ED visits = 25 per cent increase
• Ambulatory care visits = 30 per cent increase

LHSC leadership anticipates the detailed master plan will be submitted to the Ministry of Health this summer.

The province may potentially require a local contribution of 10 per cent that could be shared by city hall, the hospital’s foundations, and other sources.

The municipal contribution will likely be known in time for multi-year budget deliberations by city council early next year.

“We’re really working hard to be able to have a sense of that [cost] to align with the City of London’s budgeting process,” Schleifer Taylor told CTV News London. “We certainly have started our outreach to the community, in mind with aligning not only with their budget process but also the city of London’s strategic plans.”

LHSC is the city’s largest employer, with about 15,000 staff.