OPSEU joins health coalition postcard campaign

March 13, 2009

OPSEU is sending its hospital locals more than 40,000 Ontario Health Coalition postcards this week as part of a campaign to restore funding to the province’s hospitals.

The postcards are to encourage the McGuinty government to adequately fund hospitals to resolve their deficits and stop the present round of cuts. About 5,000 jobs are expected to be eliminated from Ontario hospitals this year.

Ontario is 8th in per capita funding of hospitals in Canada. Health Minister David Caplan has told the hospitals they will receive an increase of only 2.1 per cent this year, well below what is needed to maintain existing services. The Ontario Hospital Association says it needs 3.5 per cent simply to stand still – the difference amounts to about $250 million on a $40 Billion health budget. It would take an investment of $1.6 billion to bring Ontario hospitals up the level of their counterparts across Canada.

As a percentage of the overall health budget, hospitals have actually been shrinking. Hospital presently take up about a third of the health budget. In the 1980s hospitals represented about 50 per cent of what the province spent on health care.

The postcards, addressed to premier McGuinty, state:

Hospital cuts threaten our health

Dear Premier McGuinty:

We are extremely concerned about the inadequate funding by your government that is causing cuts to hospital services in our community.

We are disturbed that your government is not listening to public concerns about loss of local hospital services here and across Ontario.

Please fund our hospitals adequately to resolve their deficits and stop the cuts.

(Signature, Street Address, Town/City

Anyone wishing to get additional copies of the postcard should contact Campaigns Officer Rick Janson at 416-443-8888 ext 8383 (Toll-Free 1-800-268-7376).