Published on: May 15, 2016 | Last Updated: May 15, 2016 7:43 PM EDT
Windsor Regional Hospital is another victim of a “silent crisis” in
provincial health care funding, says the leader of the Ontario NDP.
“The Liberals are forcing our hospitals to make decisions based on
dollars and deficits rather than what’s best for patients here in
Ontario,” said Andrea Horwath in front of WRH’s Metropolitan Campus on
Sunday.
“Patients know it, and families sure feel it. The Liberals have pushed our hospitals too far.”
Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath speaks to media outside the Met Campus of Windsor Regional Hospital on May 15, 2016.Nick Brancaccio /
Windsor Star
Horwath spent an hour at the hospital on Sunday meeting with two
patients and four nurses to hear their perspectives on the state of
Windsor health care.
The session was part of a political campaign the Ontario NDP has been
mounting across the province. Last week, Horwath held similar meetings
and press conferences at hospitals in London, St. Catharines, and
Timmins.
Horwath described what she heard at WRH as a “desperation situation,” with “real, serious concern about the ability to access timely and full services.” According to Horwath, Ontario health
care spending must be revamped so that hospital funding keeps pace
with inflation, “at the bare minimum.”
“And that has to happen each and every year,” Horwath said. “Anything less is unacceptable.”
Asked for specific numbers that show a problem at Windsor Regional
Hospital, Horwath said there has been no increase in provincial funding
for any Ontario hospital over the past four years.
“They have had zero per cent increase for four years running, at a
time when every single year, you have inflationary pressures,” Horwath
said.
Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath (L) with Sue Sommerdyk (R) of the Ontario Nurses’ Association.Nick Brancaccio /
Windsor Star
Horwath was joined on Sunday by Sue Sommerdyk, president of the
Ontario Nurses’ Association bargaining unit for 1,550 registered nurses
at Windsor Regional Hospital.
“We’re seeing an erosion in patient care,” Sommerdyk said. “It’s a terrible time for nurses.”
Sommerdyk raised similar concerns in January, when the ONA received notice that Windsor Regional Hospital is cutting 169 registered nurse positions.
Horwath noted that more than 1,440 nursing positions have been cut across the province since the beginning of 2015.
Last week, the Ontario NDP called for a complete moratorium on the loss of any nursing positions at hospitals. Horwath did not meet with representatives of WRH administration during her session on Sunday. Asked why not, Horwath replied: “That
wasn’t our plan. Administration is stuck between a rock and a hard
place. Their budgets are being cut, so they have to make cuts to
services.” “I don’t put the blame for the crisis in our hospitals on administration. … That blame belongs squarely at the feet of (Ontario Premier) Kathleen Wynne and her Liberal government.” In response to Horwath’s comments, Ontario Health Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins told the St. Catharines Standard that the 2016 Ontario budget increased health care spending by $1 billion.
“That’s a 2.1 per cent increase this year — greater than the rate of inflation,” Hoskins said.
But Horwath said in Windsor that Hoskins should be embarrassed by
that statement. “If he’s throwing an extra billion dollars in the health
care system, it’s certainly not reaching the patients.”
“I don’t know who Dr. Hoskins thinks he’s fooling. You ask any
patient, any resident of this province who has had to access health care
recently, and you’ll find they are not satisfied.”
From left: Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Percy Hatfield, Ontario NDP leader
Andrea Horwath, her assistant Lyndon George, and Windsor West MPP Lisa
Gretzky in the parking lot of Windsor Regional Hospital on May 15, 2016.Nick Branaccio /
Windsor Star dchen@postmedia.com
