Photo: Pembroke Regional Hospital
Health-care workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees are set to rally outside the constituency office of Progressive Conservative MPP Billy Denault on Tuesday morning to protest what the union calls provincial hospital funding cuts.
CUPE says the government’s fall economic statement outlines a plan that would reduce hospital funding by 10 per cent in real terms over three years by 2027-28, as projected spending fails to keep pace with annual cost pressures of about six per cent.
The union says the impact of fiscal restraint is already being felt in hospitals and long-term care homes across Ontario, pointing to job losses in communities including North Bay, Hamilton, Ottawa, Niagara and the Greater Toronto Area due to budget deficits.
Michael Hurley, president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, which represents 45,000 health-care workers, said thousands of patients remain on surgical wait lists and in hospital hallways.
He said roughly 200,000 people are waiting for surgeries, with 73,000 waiting longer than clinically recommended, and about 2,000 patients on stretchers awaiting beds. Hurley said the province’s funding plan through 2027-28 would have “devastating consequences” for people needing hospital care.
Citing projections from the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario, the union says about 9,000 staff positions and 2,400 hospital beds could be eliminated provincewide under current funding plans.
In the Ottawa Valley, CUPE estimates about 70 nurses and personal support workers could lose their jobs by 2027-28 if the budget trajectory remains unchanged.
The union says patient care is already strained. Data from Ontario Health show that 29 per cent of emergency room patients at Pembroke Regional Hospital are admitted within the target time of eight hours.
Sharon Richer, secretary-treasurer of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, said workers are stretched to their limits and need safer staffing levels and increased funding.
CUPE is calling on the province to add 6,200 staffed beds in the short term, increase core hospital funding by $3.2 billion to address deficits and hire staff, and commit to multi-year funding increases that match hospitals’ real cost growth.
(Steve Berard)