Ford’s hospital cuts are putting lives at risk across Ontario

QUEEN’S PARK – Today at Queen’s Park, Dr. Robin Lennox, Shadow Minister for Primary Care, and MPP France Gélinas, Shadow Minister for Health, held a press conference warning that chronic hospital underfunding by the Ford government is driving hallway medicine and putting patients at serious risk across Ontario.

“People in this province are being forced to wait for care in places that were never meant to be treatment spaces,” said Dr. Lennox. “That is what happens when a government knowingly underfunds hospitals year after year.”

“This government cannot pretend this is a surprise,” said Gélinas. “They were warned. They were shown the data. They heard from workers and hospital leaders. And they chose not to act. Hallway medicine exists because this government allows it to exist.”

Both MPPs said health-care workers are being put in impossible situations because of ignorant and heartless decisions made at Queen’s Park.

“Nurses and doctors are doing everything they can, but you cannot run hospitals at crisis capacity forever and expect people not to get hurt,” said Dr. Lennox. “Patients need care now. Workers need support now. And this government keeps choosing not to deliver either,” concluded Gélinas.

Quotes:

“Hospital cuts – especially cutting front-line health-care professionals – are catastrophic for patients… There is no scenario where fewer nurses mean safer or better care for patients… The crisis in our health-care system is the direct result of intentional underfunding by the Ford government…”

-Erin Ariss, RN, Provincial President, Ontario Nurses’ Association

“My sickest ER patients are often stuck in the ER for 2–3 days… My elderly patients are treated in hallways… Patients cannot be offloaded from paramedics… As a result of ER overcrowding, my patients have suffered premature death…”

-Dr. Raghu Venugopal, Toronto Based Emergency Physician

“I spent 28 hours on a bed with a sign above it: ‘Cardiac Hallway 5’. Imagine that — a hallway bed specifically named because it is occupied on a routine basis. During that time I did not sleep and I know I was not the only one. I was incredulous watching some of my fellow hallway patients in their pajamas going to the washroom in the ED with their toothbrushes prior to bedtime. It’s time to step up.”

-David Bird, Former President and CEO at West Haldimand General Hospital