The MPP for Windsor West issued a statement early Monday morning saying Windsor Regional Hospital will now be designated a Level 2 Thoracic Cancer Surgery Centre.
As a result, Teresa Piruzza says cancer care funding, both base and incremental amounts, will continue and residents will not have to travel to London for treatment.
"We were able to put together a case, so to speak, in terms of why this decision should have been made and why we should receive our Level 2 designation," she says.
Piruzza received word from Health Minister Deb Matthews about the decision, which was based on the strong case brought forward by the community.
"It was about the impact on the larger health care system. The quality outcomes in Windsor in thoracic surgery are very, very good, and so there was no quality issue," Matthews says.
It’s the designation leaders at Windsor Regional Hospital have been asking for.
Hospital CEO David Musyj says "Our community again stood up and was heard loud and clear by everyone regarding this particular issue...I seriously could not come up with one fact that supported this denial of the designation in the first place."
Earlier this month Cancer Care Ontario had threatened to pull funding if Windsor Regional Hospital didn't stop performing the surgeries, citing the fact that they had only conducted an average of 50 surgeries per year, well under the required threshold to continue.
But the case against that decision was based on quality over quantity and revisiting Cancer Care Ontario's 2005 designation report, which saw other municipalities in similar circumstances given the same designation.
