Hospital cuts don’t heal; join a protest rally on April 18
April 8, 2009
Next to your family physician, hospitals are the strongest
symbol of our public health care system. They are a reassuring anchor in
hundreds of communities and they are the workplace home for tens of
thousands of dedicated and skilled professionals and support staff.
Why, then, does our provincial government do its best to
starve these vital public institutions? It can’t be because this is what the
public is demanding. In survey after survey Canadians say they want our
health care system strengthened, starting with the services they receive at
their local hospital.
Last month’s provincial budget reinforced the McGuinty
government’s indifferent approach to hospital funding. While considerable
fanfare and back-slapping was made over $4.5 billion in tax cuts to
corporations, core hospital funding was increased by a miserly 2.1 per cent.
Last year it was 2.4 per cent. The Ontario Hospital Association has said it
needs 3.5 per cent just to maintain the status quo.
Is it any wonder that we find 80 per cent of all hospitals
in Ontario operating in debt?
By law, hospitals are not allowed to run deficits. So what
do hospital administrators do? They start by increasing user fees, like
parking. Then they pull out the scissors and start trimming costs around
administration and support, including infection control. When that’s not
sufficient, they hack away in earnest by eliminating clinical services. As
many as 5,000 full-time equivalent positions could be lost this year as
hospitals struggle to balance their budgets.
As a union that represents more than 20,000 hospital workers
OPSEU is taking action.
On Saturday April 18, OPSEU members, under the organizing
umbrella of the Ontario Health Coalition, will join thousands of others from
sister unions like CUPE, SEIU and CAW at rallies around the province to
demand that the McGuinty government restore full-funding to our hospitals.
To reinforce our message, television advertising has been
purchased on Hockey Night in Canada in the coming weeks. Our message is
expected to reach 2.8 million viewers in south, central and northern
Ontario.
I strongly urge you to participate in a rally in your
community. Please visit
http://www.opseu.org/bps/health/april-18-rally.htm for the time
and location of a rally near you.
The fight is already getting results. The McGuinty
government guaranteed the Petrolia ER would stay in place for five years
following a large community rally in response to a plan to close the
facility. A plan to downgrade the Trenton ER to the status of an urgent care
facility was shelved after community outcry.
Meanwhile, Hamilton Health Sciences had planned on
converting its ER into a pediatrics-only facility until the community took
to the streets. The Bowmanville ER recently got $1 million in new funding
from the Central East LHIN after the community stood up for their local
hospital.
We can make a difference if we only make the effort.
In Solidarity
Patty Rout
First Vice-President / Treasurer
