Hospitals in Windsor and Chatham-Kent are facing a $128 million deficit and are short 1,266 staff members, according to a recent report from the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU).
The report highlights that the average number of patients in hallways across Ontario’s hospitals has increased from fewer than 1,000 to almost 2,000 during Premier Doug Ford’s term, with bed occupancy frequently exceeding the safe threshold of 80 per cent.
Currently, hospital bed occupancy in Windsor and Chatham-Kent stands at 90.5 per cent, based on information provided by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) during a press conference on Thursday.
The report also notes that local health-care facilities have a negative working capital of $42.4 million and many hospitals in Ontario now rely on loans for daily operational expenses.
New hospital construction underway
This report comes just after the province initiated construction on the multi-billion dollar Fancsy Family hospital located in south Windsor.
Doug Allan, a CUPE researcher and author of the report, mentioned that the hospital follows a common government approach involving “public-private partnerships,” which end up costing billions and favor for-profit companies.
“New hospitals are needed,” he stated, “but we also want them to focus on enhancing operations at our (existing) hospitals.”
Challenges across the province
Titled Pushed over the Brink: The escalating assault on Ontario’s hospitals, this report points out “chronic underfunding and increasing privatization of health-care services” throughout the province.
Allan claims that the government has strayed from public consensus when it comes to improving hospital systems.
“Instead we’re getting funding and staffing levels below what is required, even just to maintain services.”
The Ontario Ministry of Health (MOH), however, disputes these claims made in the report.
“CUPE’s claims are entirely misguided,” said the ministry in an email.
“Ontario is proud to have one of the largest publicly funded health-care systems in the world, investing a record $101 billion this year alone, a 64 per cent increase from 2018, to connect more people to the care they need when they need it.“
Increasing costs for hospitals
The union argues that government funding isn’t keeping pace with rising operational costs at hospitals which is ”putting additional pressure on an already struggling system.” p >
Allan indicated that expenses for Ontario’s hospitals are climbing more than 6 percent each year while next year’s provincial budget only plans for a 3.3 percent increase.
The ministry responded by stating it has increased hospital funding by “a record four percent this year for the third consecutive year bringing our total investment in hospitals to over fifty percent since 2018.”
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