Ottawa projected to lose funding for 725 frontline health care staff and nearly 200 hospital beds by 2027-28: new report

Planned funding cuts by the provincial government will lengthen wait-times and worsen patient care in hospitals, warns CUPE

OTTAWA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As hospitals cut hundreds of jobs and eliminate vacant positions amidst budgetary constraints imposed by the Conservative government, the largest health care union in Ontario is warning about longer wait-times, rushed care, preventable mistakes, and overcrowded hallways.

CUPE released a new research report, “Driven to the brink: projected cuts to intensify Ontario’s hospital crisis,” which contrasts the additional resources required to simply maintain existing service levels with the government’s planned cuts by 2027-28, highlighting a 4,080 staffed bed capacity shortfall in the system (about 325 beds for Ottawa).

The Ford government recently directed the hospitals to plan for a two per cent annual increase in funding over the next three years, well short of the six per cent average since 2020, precipitating cuts in multiple facilities hampered by budget deficits.

At least 1,000 jobs are already being eliminated in hospitals and long-term care homes in North Bay, Hamilton, Ottawa, Niagara and the GTA.

“This is a shocking political decision to cut our hospitals when we need more staff, not fewer,” said Michael Hurley, president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE). “Hospitals could improve access, reduce wait-times, and provide better care by attracting and retaining qualified staff. Instead, the government is choosing to starve our public hospitals with another round of reductions to staffing levels and bed capacity.”

Analysis by the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario shows that the government’s plan would entail the loss of more than 9,000 nurses and personal support worker positions across the health care sector by 2027-28.

In Ottawa, about 725 nurses and PSWs could lose their jobs across the health care system, among other staffing cuts.

Low staffing levels mean more waiting, says the CUPE report. According to the most recent data reported by the provincial government (March 2024) there were nearly 73,000 patients in Ontario who waited longer than clinically recommended for their surgeries, up from 36,360 in 2019.

The staffing and bed cuts would also intensify the problem of ‘hallway healthcare,’ which the government promised to eliminate in 2018. The number of patients receiving care in hospital hallways increased to 1,860 in 2024 from 826 in June 2018.

But now, CUPE notes, the government has decided to stop tracking this problem altogether.

The FAO said that Ontario would lose nearly 2,400 staffed hospital beds by 2027-28 – a seven per cent decrease. Based on projected increase in patient volumes, the union estimates that Ontario would need an additional 1,600 beds (4.5 per cent increase).

Extrapolating off the FAO data, CUPE estimates that Ottawa hospitals could lose about 200 staffed beds by 2027-28. In contrast, CUPE estimates the hospital network must add about 128 beds just to maintain existing service levels. The hospitals would require far more beds to eradicate backlogs and ‘hallway healthcare.’

Latest Ontario Health data shows that ER patients at Ottawa hospitals wait between 16 to 23 hours for admission, well above the target time of eight hours.

These problems are self-inflicted as Ontario funds and staffs its hospitals at the lowest rate across Canada, said Doug Allan, senior CUPE researcher and author of the report.

“In contrast with government policies, we need a significant increase in beds and staffing levels,” said Allan. “We need this to end the backlogs, delays, and to reduce ‘hallway healthcare’ as the Ford PCs promised in their 2018 election campaign. We also need it to keep up with increasing demand pressures that naturally arise with a growing and aging population.”

The union is recommending the following actions by the provincial government:

• In the short term, add 6,200 staffed beds to: get patients off hallway stretchers, allow for aging and population growth and clear the backlog of people waiting for surgeries.
• Increase core hospital funding by $3.2 billion to clear deficits and hire additional staff.
• After the aforementioned core funding increase, increase annual funding to meet inflationary costs (6 per cent annual increase) with a multi-year funding commitment.

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