MEDIA ADVISORY: Stretched to the limit: hospital union to line-up gurneys outside Niagara Falls Hospital, drawing attention to the health care crisis

OCHU-CUPE to hold media conference outside Niagara Falls Hospital on Thursday morning at 10 am

NIAGARA FALLS, ON –(COMMUNITYWIRE)– On the eve of the provincial election, a line-up of hospital stretchers outside Niagara Falls Hospital will symbolize the crisis in Ontario’s health care:

• 1,860 people on stretchers in hospital hallways, up from 826 in June 2018 when the Premier promised to end hallway medicine.
• 2.5 million citizens without a family doctor
• Palliative homecare patients dying without painkillers and medical supplies
• 250,000 people waiting for surgeries
• Nearly 50,000 people waiting for long-term care
• Constant ER closures in small towns

“The crisis in healthcare affects almost every family,” says Michael Hurley, president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE). “The entire health care sector is staggering. There is no end to the staffing shortages; ER closures, waits for surgeries or for long-term care beds or for a family doctor or for appropriate home care services. We hope to help ensure that this election focuses on solutions to this crisis.”

In the first half of 2024-25, the Niagara Health System (NHS) operated at 96.5% capacity, well above the 85 per cent recommended maximum bed occupancy level. According to analysis by OCHU-CUPE, NHS must add 127 beds to achieve safe occupancy levels.

Shortfall of $27 million at Niagara Health System, and $800 million across Ontario

The union is raising concerns about access to care due to growing deficits across the hospital sector. Based on latest data, hospitals in Ontario faced a cumulative shortfall of $800 million in the first half of 2024-25. At Niagara Health System, the shortfall was $27 million.

The union warns that cutbacks are already happening at numerous hospitals, including Hamilton, Guelph, and Burlington, as they buckle under the weight of growing patient volumes and insufficient funding.

Pointing out that per-person hospital funding in Ontario is the lowest in Canada and that we have the fewest beds and hospital staff to population, Hurley says it is not surprising to witness a record increase in hospital overcrowding.

About 2,000 patients every day receive care on stretchers in unconventional spaces such as hallways and storage closets, an increase of 125 per cent since June 2018 when Ford got elected on the promise to end hallway health care.

Hurley says hospital overcrowding compromises patient and staff safety, causing delays in admitting patients, higher risk of nosocomial infections, and heavier workloads. Moreover, it robs patients of dignity as they are treated out in hallways without privacy.

“There are 250,000 people on wait lists for surgeries last year” Hurley says. “2,000 are on stretchers today, begging for a bed. Palliative patients die at home without painkillers. As a province we must do so much better for our citizens.”

“The next government must implement real solutions”

The union recommends the following solutions to address the health care crisis:

• Improve hospital capacity to match the needs of an ageing and growing population, by adding staffed hospital beds.
• Address the staffing crisis by improving compensation and working conditions, and providing incentives such as free tuition to students in nursing and PSW programs
• End private sector delivery of acute, long-term care and community health services
• Ban agency nurses to reduce staffing costs, and invest that money in improving compensation and working conditions for in-house workers
• Improving staffing in LTC to meet the 4-hours of daily care benchmark and expand capacity to reduce waitlists
• End contracting out of services across health care, and run LTC and home care on a public, not-for-profit basis
• Expand the use of nurse practitioners to lead primary care clinics

WHO:
Michael Hurley, president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU- CUPE)
Doug Allan, senior health care researcher at CUPE

WHAT:
A line-up of hospital stretchers to warn about the health care crisis

WHERE:
Niagara Health Hospital, 5546 Portage Rd, Niagara Falls

WHEN:
10 am on Thursday, February 6

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For more information, contact:

Robert Murdoch, CUPE Communications
rmurdoch@cupe.ca
613-690-5435