WYNNE REFUSES TO AWKNOWLEDGE ONTARIO’S HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IN PERPETUAL CRISIS
QUEEN’S PARK – This morning Ontario PC Health Critic Jeff Yurek (Elgin-Middlesex-London) questioned the Premier on her lack of planning in the healthcare system leading to a system in perpetual crisis.
During today’s Question Period, the Ontario PC Caucus highlighted the impacts of the devastating Liberal cuts, scandal, waste and mismanagement within the health care sector and called for Health Minister Eric Hoskins’ removal from his Cabinet post.
“Due to this minister’s freezing of hospital budgets we have seen hospitals forced to cut staff and services to balance their budgets. Last year alone people in London, Windsor, and the rest of Southwestern Ontario saw cuts to services and longer wait times,” noted Ontario PC Health Critic Jeff Yurek (Elgin-Middlesex-London). “This government’s record on health care has been disastrous.”
Yurek outlined a number of cuts impacting Southwestern Ontario. St. Joseph’s Health Care London had a $17 million shortfall which saw 60 nurses fired, and Windsor’s Regional Hospital will be eliminating a total of 120 nursing jobs to cope with their $20 million budget shortfall.
“The government may be able to spin their mismanagement. But the line was drawn a few months ago when Pete Verbene, a 61 year old Alzheimer’s patient was forced to sleep on the floor in restraints for eight days because the hospital was understaffed and over capacity,” Yurek continued. “Even the London North Centre MPP Deb Matthews says that this was absolutely unnecessary.”
“Will the Premier replace her Health Minister, who created the crisis in our healthcare system?” questioned Yurek.
Recent examples of the Wynne Liberals’ cuts to health care include:
- $815 million cut from physician services
- 50 medical residency positions eliminated
- $20 million slashed from the assistive devices program
- $50 million cut to physiotherapy services for seniors
- 1,400 nurses cut since the beginning of 2015
- Nine consecutive years of hospital funding cuts, including four years of frozen hospital budgets