The CEO of the Huron-Perth Healthcare Alliance says they're getting ready to start discussions on next year's budget.
Andrew Williams says one of the challenges they're facing is the uncertainty about what level of funding will be provided by the new provincial government. Williams said they've heard the government intends to find savings across all public sectors and that's what they campaigned on so that's not a surprise, but so far, how much is still an unknown. Williams says they have to plan for no increase in their operating budget for now and then hope that after the government completes its provincial accounts review they'll have a better idea going forward.
Williams said they do flag their concerns and point out the pressures they face with cost pressures that add two to three per cent to their expenditures annually so they continue to look for new ways of providing services in a different way through different approaches and he says that's an ongoing discussion internally.
“We have to plan from the perspective of not expecting increases in our operating budget. We're looking at initially assuming a zero per cent adjustment for next year and then as the government finishes its provincial accounts review and starts to look to the next twelve to twenty-four months probably have a better feel,” said Williams.
