Ontario Health Coalition |
HEALTH FACTS: HOSPITALS |
Hospitals Fact Sheet #2
Ontario has never before seen anything like it - hospitals closed; ambulances on redirect; patients piled up in emergency wards unable to get a bed; thousands of staff, upon whom patients rely, gone; thousands of beds closed; length of stay cut to the bone forcing patients out of hospital quicker and sicker than ever before; new mothers shipped around the province in search of desperately needed neo-natal beds; chronic care patients in turmoil from government plans to close more than 3500 beds; vital services contracted out to the private, for-profit sector; and on, and on, and...;
It has been an unprecedented four years of turmoil. People have been harmed. Some have died. Others have suffered much worse health outcomes.
The tragedy is that it didn't have to be this way
The government refused to listen. It was told time and time again not to proceed with its plans for hospitals unless and until home care and other services and sectors were properly funded and in place to provide care for us.
But the Harris government was so intent on cutting health care to afford it tax cuts, it ignored the many voice of warning. As a result, our once first-class hospital system is a nightmare for the many who rely on it.
To make matters worse, we now learn the government has not intention of adequately funding the other key services in other sectors.
There will always be a need for quality hospital care. Years of cuts and closures have led to diminished levels of care. Staffing and funding to hospitals must be immediately restored. Hospital closures must stop and beds must be reopened before any more harm is done.
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