OPSEU responds: Shortage of hospital professionals causes long hospital wait times

Letter to the Editor

(Following is the full text of the letter, an edited version ran in the Toronto Sun, August 16, 2007).

Dear Editor:
(re: Aug. 14, Joe Warmington – “Why are sick children forced to pay….”?)

The lack of MRI machines is just one factor in the inability of our health care system to cope with the demands. More importantly, the lack of trained and experienced hospital health professionals is the cause of many delays within our health system.

Governments continue to pay attention to and deal with shortages of doctors and nurses. But they ignore or refuse to deal with severe shortages in other areas of health care. Professions with severe personnel shortages include laboratory and x-ray technologists as well as ultrasound and MRI techs.
These are truly the invisible health professions within a hospital. Without these workers, doctors and nurses cannot do their jobs.

Governments have to step up recruiting for these professions. They must provide more incentive for people to train for and remain working in these positions here in Ontario. The ‘other’ hospital professionals may be invisible, but they are key to the functioning of our health care system.

We can have all the MRI machines in the world, but they are no good without the trained professionals required to run them.

Patty Rout,
First Vice-President/Treasurer
Ontario Public Service Employees Union