Health care workers across northwestern Ontario are drawing attention to how under funding of hospitals is impacting local health care services.
Janine Webb is with the Ontario Nurses Association and she says inadequate funding and the PC government’s restructuring plans are leading to a further decline in service.
She notes hallway medicine is a reality right now.
Webb says the local system is already seeing longer emergency room wait times, limited access to community resources and patients being cared for in hallways and storage rooms.
Webb is encouraging the public to voice their concerns.
President of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions Michael Hurley says another restructuring is not the answer.
“Our systems are buckling under the weight of the population growth and the aging of the population. That’s a problem that the government’s don’t want to address.”
Hurley says health care funding will increase 1.8% this year, but much of that will be eaten away by a recent settlement with doctors.
