TORONTO, ON: Documents obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) reveal that the electricity bills for Pembroke Regional Hospital have faced a steep increase over the last five years.

The documents show bills that are increasing, growing from $677,922 in 2012 to $1,076,565 in 2016, an increase of nearly 59 per cent.

“How is Pembroke Regional Hospital expected to manage their budget when electricity bills have rising dramatically every year?” asked CTF Ontario Director, Christine Van Geyn. “The more the hospital has to spend keeping their lights on, the fewer resources they have for patients.”

Ontario has seen dramatic increases to the cost of electricity, with bills for residential consumers more than doubling in the last decade.

“Families across the province all feel the pain of rapid increases to the cost of electricity when they pay their home electricity bill. But what many people don’t think about is the cost of the Ontario government’s failed electricity policy to the institutions we all rely on, like Lakeridge Health,” continued Van Geyn. “Instead of paying $398,643 for inflated electricity bills, Pembroke Regional Hospital could have paid for 130 appendectomies. That’s something that Ontario patients expect their health care system to spend money on, rather than wasting money on this government’s hydro rip-off.”

The documents detailing Pembroke Regional Hospital’s electricity bills can be found HERE.