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Community members are awaiting a response from the province regarding a renewal of funding for the Kingston-based Integrated Care Hub (ICH).
The facility, near Belle Park, is being funded temporarily by the province until the end of June this year. But as Carol Ravnaas, with the addictions and mental health services unit at KFL&A Public Health, put it at a council meeting on Tuesday night, if there isn’t a renewal of funding then the hub will have to wind down.That’s why the city approved temporary funding for the ICH, with $500,000 going to support the facility for another few months.“We don’t know that we are going to replenish it again,” Coun. Gregory Ridge said. “This was a decision that was made on a one-time basis due to the fact that the province has not yet made a decision about their funding.” The hub had previously received $2.3 million in funding from the province over two years in 2022. That funding ended on March 31 this year.
Ravnaas said the hub will continue operating as it normally does.“The ICH is really a place where those who are homeless, (the) most vulnerable and in need of care, are able to go to. It operates 24-7,” she said. “The important part about that is if it didn’t work 24-7, really, it would have an impact on emergency services.”Ridge noted that staff at the hub took part in more than 970 emergency department diversions last year, something he said will have a domino effect if ICH ceases to operate.
“If we were to suddenly cut off the funding, that could have a significant effect not only in the immediate community, but also in our emergency department,” he said.— with files from Global’s Kaytlyn Poberznick
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