Funding hospital-based emergency services

In the final analysis, implementing the ED funding model will not generate additional dollars for hospitals; rather the funding model will function as a tool for reallocating existing health care dollars. This function is particularly important as government funding for health care is subjected to increasing financial restraint. As such, the ED funding model will serve to further the Acute Care Funding Plan principles of fairness and equity, a recognition of the unique funding requirements for ambulatory care, and the need to develop cost-effective service delivery. Adherence to these principles is integral to maintaining the affordable, publicly administered national health care system Canadians have come to expect and cherish.