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WHITEHORSE – The Yukon Party Official Opposition is concerned by the news that the opening of the Mental Wellness Unit (formerly called the new Secure Medical Unit) at the Whitehorse General Hospital has been delayed yet again. According to an email sent to Yukon Hospital Corporation employees on November 29, it will not be open for patients until June 3, 2025.
“The damning report by Ernst and Young released a year ago confirmed Yukon Hospitals were so short of money from the previous fiscal year that they had to divert $7.3 Million in capital funding from this project to cover payroll and operations costs, due to government’s failure to provide adequate funding,” noted Health and Social Services Critic Brad Cathers. “According to that report, in the 2022-2023 fiscal year, Yukon Hospital Corporation’s financial shortfall was so serious that the corporation was facing a deficit and was at risk of not meeting payroll and operations obligations had it not diverted $7.3 Million in capital funding.”
In November, the Yukon Party reminded the Minister of Health and Social Services that a sign at the Whitehorse Hospital still proclaims the Mental Wellness Unit will be open in July 2024, and asked if the project would be further delayed beyond the projected opening this winter.
On November 7, Minister McPhee told the Legislative Assembly, ‘There is also funding available to support the opening of the Mental Wellness Unit this winter…’
“The delay of this important project till June 2025 is another consequence of the Liberal government’s lack of funding for our hospitals,” added Cathers. “Yukoners are feeling the impact of our hospital system being overburdened every day, and they are tired of the Liberals’ lack of action to fix the growing health care crisis, and chronic underfunding of our hospitals.”
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Contact:
Tim Kucharuk
Media Director
(867) 689-7874
