Ontario is extending funding that helps rural and northern hospitals avoid temporary ER closures, after previously saying it would end after the summer.
A memo this week from the deputy minister of health to affected hospitals says that the Temporary Locum Program, which had been set to expire Sept. 30, will now continue until March 31.
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.