“We haven’t seen this level of slashing since the Harris years:” new report warns of longer wait-times and declining quality of care as funding cuts squeeze Ontario hospitals

CUPE media conference on January 27 to reveal shortfall in staffing and capacity over next three years as hospitals told to plan for two per cent annual funding increases

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A new report warns that the turn to health care cutbacks in Ontario harken to the period of Mike Harris, as hundreds of job cuts ravage hospitals across the province, prolonging wait-times and delaying patient care.

The government recently directed hospitals to plan for two per cent annual funding increases until 2027-28, far less than the six per cent average in recent years.

The Ford government’s funding plan will lead to more than 10,000 job losses and reduction of 2,400 hospital beds at a time when 2,000 patients are receiving “hallway healthcare” every day, says the report by the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, the hospital division of CUPE.

Driven to the brink: projected cuts to intensify hospital crisis will be released at a press conference in the media studio at Queen’s Park on Tuesday morning. The report uses data on hospital staffing, capacity and funding from multiple official sources, and offers recommendations to address patient needs and restore lost capacity in the sector.

Who: Michael Hurley, president of OCHU/CUPE

Doug Allan, senior researcher, CUPE

What: OCHU/CUPE press conference to release full findings of new research report on Ontario hospital care

When: 10 a.m., Tuesday, January 27

Where: Queen’s Park media studio, 111 Wellesley St W, Toronto

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