There is no doubt that we want to make sure that our most challenged and youngest patients have health care where they need it and when they need it.

I will never, ever talk down SickKids. They are a world-renowned hospital that has been providing exceptional care, including, I might suggest, when we saw a surge in RSV. In fact, it was actually SickKids clinicians, nurses, doctors who stepped up and assisted community hospitals to make sure that they had the same level of knowledge and appreciation of how to deal with children coming into their emergency departments with RSV. When we saw those surges in our sick kids’ hospitals across Ontario, we made immediate investments that have now turned into permanent investments, including pediatric ICUs.

The hospitals themselves—the clinicians, the staff—have stepped up, and we, as a government, will continue to support their work to make sure that our most vulnerable are protected.

As I said, in the fall, when we saw the RSV hitting our pediatric hospitals, in particular, most dramatically, we did a number of things, including making additional investments in ICU beds that have now become permanent. We have more pediatric ICU beds in the province of Ontario today than we did as recently as six months ago. We will continue to make those investments. Premier Ford has made it clear we will not leave our hospital partners behind.

Now, would I have liked to see those investments happen 10 years ago? Absolutely, but we’re getting it done now. We’re fixing a system that frankly was ignored for far too long under previous governments.