He says the cuts mean ten less beds and 70 less staff over five years, but with the increase in population growth and aging demographics the impact will feel more like 33 beds and 230 staff.
Michael Hurley, President of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions of the Canadian Union of Public Employees shows a graph depicting the provincial government’s planned government spending savings for hospitals and health care will look like over five years. (Photo: Amanda Smith/Quinte News)
Hurley says while the government has given hospitals a one per cent increase, it is not sufficient to meet the rising costs of drugs, doctors salaries and technology costs.
He says the aging population also puts a one percent increase on costs for hospitals, and then the growing population adds an additional one percent increase.
Hurley told Quinte News the Canada-wide average per patient is $677 more than Ontario.
He continued to say Ontario has the fewest beds and staff, lengths of stay are shorter and re-admission rates are higher than the rest of the country.
Hurley stated over the next 20 years they need the funding to take care of the aging and growing population and the current plan does not do that as hospitals and long-term care facilities will need beds and staff.
Figures provided by Hurley state by 2023-24, the proposed cuts account for $5.2 billion of the $8 billion in total cuts required by the government.
He says this will impact patients the most, especially in the Quinte region, and it will create a patient access crisis and hallway healthcare will get much worse.
Hurley says it will mean longer wait times, care in hallways, it will be harder to get into a hospital for care and many will be turned away.
He says there is a way to find the monies needed to make sure the health care system doesn’t in fact suffer and hallway health care gets worse than it is.
Our government is committed to making health-care investments on the front lines, where they will have the most impact, and it has been clear that creating an efficient, stable, and patient-focused health-care system is a top priority.
For too long, Ontario’s public health-care system has languished on life support, as the previous Liberal government, supported by the NDP, did not find the right prescription to end hallway health care. Our approach to invest in front-line services truly does protect what matters most by focusing on the patient and not the bureaucracy. Working together, we can create a connected system of care where every Ontario resident is supported well at all stages of life.
The numbers CUPE and the OCHU cite are the product of that mismanagement. Bureaucracies outside the hospitals and doctors offices grew, but the money didn’t get to where it mattered most. We face an uphill battle, but we’re taking steps to address the problems. Clearly, the problem is a complex one.
The Province has taken meaningful steps toward transforming the system. Namely…
This year alone, we are investing $1.3 billion more in health care. In 2019-2020, we are investing $384 million in the hospitals sector – a two-per-cent increase over the past fiscal year. It includes $67 million to sustain over 700 beds to help hospitals experiencing high occupancy challenges. The government has also created a 10-year plan to invest over $27 billion in hospital infrastructure to create more than 3,000 new beds across Ontario.
We have also made significant investments to ease the burden on hospitals by providing needed care in the community. We have provided $267 million in additional funding for home and community services, focusing on front-line care delivery. There will also be an additional $72 million flowing this fiscal year to create new long-term care beds, some of the first built in well over a decade, and part of a commitment to create 15,000 in five years.
New funding, like the $174 million invested in new mental health and addictions supports this year and a publicly funded dental program rolling out this fall should also positively impact waiting times in emergency rooms in Quinte and across the province.
Locally, as part of the 2019 budget, Quinte Health Care is projected to receive $6.5 million in funding – a 4.3 per cent increase over last year. Through LHIN initial allocation packages, QHC also received critical care support with $1 million for Adult Level 3 beds, $17,200 for critical care nurse training, and $40,000 for critical care new nurse training. The Province also continues to support planning for a new Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital. Mental health and addictions funding in the riding is up nearly $1 million. In addition, recently, we committed to redeveloping the H.J. McFarland Memorial Home with a total of 160 new and renewed long-term care beds.
