“We are breaking under the cuts”: Scarborough hospital workers call on Ford government to increase funding in the face of $36 million deficit

Scarborough Health Network workers held a rally on July 27^th amidst staffing shortages and growing violence in the workplace

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--2,500 frontline workers at the Scarborough Health Network (SHN), represented by CUPE, are facing heightened staffing issues while hospitals across the province cut jobs to account for growing deficits. The SHN is currently battling a $36 million budget shortfall.

Chronic underfunding has resulted in a dual crisis of both reduced investment and capacity, at a moment when demand for hospital services only continues to grow.

A survey of SHN workers conducted by CUPE in late 2025 found that underfunding has worsened conditions for both patients and workers alike. With 551 responses, 71 percent of staff said patient care is compromised due to insufficient staffing levels.

Violent incidents increase when patients are agitated due to long wait-times and insufficient care in understaffed – and often overcrowded – hospital units. 42 percent of SHN survey respondents shared that they had experienced violence in the workplace firsthand – with 20 percent reporting that they had been physically assaulted.

“The people of Scarborough deserve safe, timely and quality healthcare,” said Stacy James, president of CUPE 5852. “Right now, healthcare workers are doing everything they can to care for patients. But without proper government funding, our hospital system is being pushed beyond its limit. Staff shortages and lack of resources are creating unsafe working conditions for both patients and healthcare workers. Patients are waiting longer for treatment, and healthcare workers are burnt out while trying to provide the level of care that the community deserves. Healthcare is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.”

SHN’s workforce is largely made up of women and racialized staff, who are already facing barriers. Alongside overwhelming workloads and increasingly hostile environments, James said that staff are emotionally and physically exhausted.

“Our hospital system is understaffed and underfunded and it is just impossible to deliver the level of care that patients deserve,” said Michael Hurley, president of CUPE’s hospital division, which represents 46,000 workers including SHN employees. “The Ford government is deliberately destabilizing our hospitals, undermining our public healthcare system to make way for privatization. Hospital staff and patients are collateral damage. We will do everything we can to change that.”

In June, Leader of the Official Opposition Ontario NDP, Marit Stiles, joined James and Hurley in an open letter to the Minister of Health calling for support for frontline staff at the SHN. Hospital funding and capacity are key issues in the upcoming provincial Scarborough Southwest by-election.

The rally was held at Birchmount hospital in Scarborough. Based on the latest Health Quality Ontario data, only 22 percent of emergency department patients at the hospital are admitted within the target time of eight hours – waiting an average of 21.5 hours, well above the provincial average.

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