MEDIA ADVISORY: “Sick of wait-times, ER closures, and hallway medicine:” Health Coalition and union call on Ford to prioritize health care instead of re-election bid

Hospital workers and community allies to rally at site of provincial budget hearing in Hamilton, calling on government to address health care woes

HAMILTON, ON –(COMMUNITYWIRE)– In 2024, Ontario’s health care crisis reached new lows: the number of patients in hospital hallways hit a record high; ER closures broke a new threshold; the wait-list for long-term care beds peaked at 48,000, 250,000 people languished on the surgical waitlist and 2.5 million people did not have a family doctor. In Hamilton, the city’s largest hospital put a pause on hiring in the face of a $112 projected budget deficit. And yet, advocates say, instead of addressing this crisis the government is needlessly focused on an early election campaign.

On Thursday, January 16, community activists, hospital and long-term care staff will brave frigid temperatures outside the site of the provincial budget hearings to demand appropriate health care funding. Otherwise, they warn, 2025 could be the worst year yet. For one, the government’s own projections show a looming shortage of 70,000 nurses and PSWs by 2027 across the health care sector.

Natalie Mehra, the executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition, says the Ford government funds Ontario’s health care at the lowest rate across Canada, with per-person public sector health spending $821 less than the average of other provinces. That equates to a $12.3 billion funding shortfall across the Ontario population.

“If the Ford government simply funded public health care at the rate of the Canadian average, we would make significant progress in alleviating the crisis,” Mehra says. “Without ever having given the public any say over the matter, the Ford government has made political choices that have driven public and non-profit health care services into crisis. They are redirecting more than a billion in public funding to privatize health services per year now, rather than stabilize and restore public hospital and health care services.”

Michael Hurley, president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE), says that he was concerned about multiple hospitals making cutbacks due to fiscal deficits, as operational costs exceed government funding. Across the sector, hospitals face a $2 billion deficit for the current fiscal year.

“Even as we witness unprecedented ER shutdowns, even as we see a record increase in hallway medicine, even as a quarter million people languish on surgical waitlists, the Conservatives have ignored hospital deficits while pouring money into private clinics and nursing agencies,” he says.

In a province with the lowest per-person hospital spending across Canada, the lowest hospital staffing levels in the country, as well as the fewest staffed hospital beds per person, more cutbacks would be devastating, says Hurley.

CUPE 7800, the union representing staff at Hamilton Health Sciences, has already seen a marginal reduction of 47 workers since July 2024. The union says staffing must increase by about 240 full-time workers each year just to maintain existing levels of service considering the growth in patient volumes.

The health care coalition and its partners will be protesting in Hamilton on Thursday, followed by demonstrations at provincial budget hearings in Peterborough and Toronto.

WHO:
Ontario Health Coalition members and CUPE hospital and LTC staff
Spokespersons: Natalie Mehra, executive director, Ontario Health Coalition
Michael Hurley, Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE)

WHAT:
Community activists and long-term care and hospital staff rally to demand appropriate funding for Ontario’s hospitals at provincial budget hearing

WHERE:
Sheraton Hamilton Hotel, 116 King St W, Hamilton, ON

WHEN:
11:30am on Thursday, January 16

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For more information, contact:

Zee Noorsumar, CUPE Communications
znoorsumar@cupe.ca
647-995-9859