A lower-than-expected funding increase to the Regional Health Authority in last week's provincial budget does not bode well for the coming Sunrise Health Region budget.
The provincial health budget unveiled on March 21 provides a 4.9 percent overall increase in healthcare spending and a 3.5 percent increase in funding to the health regions.
But the Sunrise Regional Health Authority will receive just 2.4 percent more than last year's base.
"That increase won't meet our status quo requirements for our health region," said Suann Laurent, CEO of the Sunrise Health Region.
"We're actually just working out all of those numbers right now. I think it's going to be a significant challenge for us to present a balanced budget," she added.
The provincial budget also implemented new efficiency targets for the health regions, tasking them with reducing costs by means such as bulk purchasing and managing employee absenteeism.
The Sunrise Health Region has had mixed success at meeting such targets in the past, but Laurent noted that the tight upcoming budget will put extra pressure on the administration to cut costs.
The health region's 2012/13 operating budget will be announced near the end of May.
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