\u2018Healthcare in Ontario has never been in such disarray\u2019, experts say<\/strong><\/p>\nHealthcare advocates and labour unions in Ontario say \u201cyears of underfunding\u201d have left Ontario\u2019s healthcare system in critical condition.<\/p>\n
Despite Doug Ford\u2019s promise to \u201cend hallway medicine\u201d in 2018, Ontario\u2019s council of hospital unions says there has been a 125% increase in patients on stretchers since then, creating a system which is unable to meet the demands of the population at virtually every measure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s two and a half million people who don\u2019t have a family doctor, there\u2019s a quarter of a million people on waiting lists for surgeries and there\u2019s 50,000 people waiting for long-term care beds,\u201d Michael Hurley, president of CUPE\u2019s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE) told PressProgress.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s 2,000 people now, up from 850 on stretchers because we don\u2019t have enough hospital beds.\u201d<\/p>\n
When it comes to funding, Hurley says the Ford government\u2019s funding formula is not forward-thinking.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe conservatives in Ontario can say, \u2018we spend more on health care than anyone ever has,\u2019 which is true\u2014nominally in the nominal dollars, they do spend more. However, they fund (it) at less than the rate of inflation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey do give hospitals an increase, but it\u2019s not enough to meet their costs and so they cut staff, supplies, beds, they\u2019re not factoring in population growth, they refuse to factor aging and population growth into their funding formulants and yet these are the most significant pressures on you know the need for a family doctor on pressure in the long-term care on pressure in the hospital beds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Natalie Mehra, Executive Director of the Ontario Healthcare Coalition, says the policy choices of the Ford government have contributed to the dire state of healthcare in the province.<\/p>\n
\u201cHealthcare in Ontario has never been in such disarray. It really is the worst crisis we\u2019ve ever seen,\u201d Mehra told PressProgress.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt every step of the way our government has made policy choices that have prioritized privatization and completely cast aside running the health system competently and meeting people\u2019s need for health care.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to data collected by the OHC, there are currently 2.5 million Ontarians without a family doctor and Ontario is currently funding public healthcare at the lowest rate in Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are many communities where the crisis in primary care is the worst that it\u2019s ever been and people just can\u2019t get access to care unless they go to an emergency department,\u201d Mehra said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe number of patients waiting on stretchers in the hallway has more than doubled since Ford took office, and it was his cornerstone promise.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mehra says part of the problem is that funds are being diverted out of public health care, which is only exacerbating the issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would we pay to build new private clinics owned by for-profit companies run for their own profit, rather than just fund our public hospitals to increase the number of surgeries they\u2019re doing?\u201d Mehra asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you weren\u2019t purposefully trying to drive the system into the ground in order to privatize, then how could you possibly explain those policy choices? It\u2019s outrageous. People should be furious.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hurley says the problems impacting healthcare are multilayered and beyond the capacity crisis, healthcare workers are also dealing with unsustainable work loads.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany nurses and other staff are exiting the system now, unable to face the you know difference between the health care they\u2019re able to provide and the health care they were trained to provide,\u201d Hurley said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a current and worsening staff shortage across all of the caring professions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hurley adds that it\u2019s routine for the hospital system to be at 125% capacity, despite the fact that a hospital operating at 85% capacity is considered an \u201cunsafe level\u201d due to the risk of medical error.<\/p>\n
\u201cCaregivers feel so badly that the care they\u2019re giving is inadequate. They know it\u2019s inadequate. They hate it. And after a while, they learned that no matter how hard they work, you work through your breaks, you can not take lunch you can pick up every overtime shift to try to fix the holes in the schedule\u2014but you can never make up for the fact that there simply aren\u2019t enough staff,\u201d Hurley said.<\/p>\n
According to Hurley, the government needs to invest $2 billion dollars a year for the next four years in order to clear waitlists.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could make a significant dent at clearing the surgical wait list by running operating rooms 24\/7. We could get people off the stretchers and end the hallway medicine which is going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe provincial government has a commitment to build 15,000 long-term care beds in a five-year period, but it\u2019s actually only 3,500. There\u2019s a huge wait list for that. That\u2019s got to be accelerated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Click here for the original article<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(February 6, 2025) By: Rumneek Johal, PressProgress \u2018Healthcare in Ontario has never been in such disarray\u2019, experts say Healthcare advocates and labour unions in Ontario say \u201cyears of underfunding\u201d have left Ontario\u2019s healthcare system in critical condition. Despite Doug Ford\u2019s promise to \u201cend hallway medicine\u201d in 2018, Ontario\u2019s council of hospital unions says there has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ohc-in-the-news","category-privatization"],"yoast_head":"\n
Hallway Medicine. Endless Wait Times. Overworked Staff. Ontario\u2019s Healthcare System is Facing It\u2019s \u2018Worst Crisis\u2019 Ever. - Ontario Health Coalition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(February 6, 2025) By: Rumneek Johal, PressProgress \u2018Healthcare in Ontario has never been in such disarray\u2019, experts say Healthcare advocates and labour\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/hallway-medicine-endless-wait-times-overworked-staff-ontarios-healthcare-system-is-facing-its-worst-crisis-ever\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hallway Medicine. Endless Wait Times. Overworked Staff. Ontario\u2019s Healthcare System is Facing It\u2019s \u2018Worst Crisis\u2019 Ever. - Ontario Health Coalition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(February 6, 2025) By: Rumneek Johal, PressProgress \u2018Healthcare in Ontario has never been in such disarray\u2019, experts say Healthcare advocates and labour\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/hallway-medicine-endless-wait-times-overworked-staff-ontarios-healthcare-system-is-facing-its-worst-crisis-ever\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ontario Health Coalition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ontariohealth?fref=ts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-07T15:45:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-26T18:33:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/hallway-medicine-endless-wait-times-overworked-staff-ontarios-healthcare-system-is-facing-its-worst-crisis-ever\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/hallway-medicine-endless-wait-times-overworked-staff-ontarios-healthcare-system-is-facing-its-worst-crisis-ever\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3bee6583f445dde27b35a7bba61b06b4\"},\"headline\":\"Hallway Medicine. Endless Wait Times. Overworked Staff. Ontario\u2019s Healthcare System is Facing It\u2019s \u2018Worst Crisis\u2019 Ever.\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-07T15:45:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-26T18:33:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/hallway-medicine-endless-wait-times-overworked-staff-ontarios-healthcare-system-is-facing-its-worst-crisis-ever\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":834,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"OHC in the News\",\"Privatization\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/hallway-medicine-endless-wait-times-overworked-staff-ontarios-healthcare-system-is-facing-its-worst-crisis-ever\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/hallway-medicine-endless-wait-times-overworked-staff-ontarios-healthcare-system-is-facing-its-worst-crisis-ever\\\/\",\"name\":\"Hallway Medicine. Endless Wait Times. Overworked Staff. Ontario\u2019s Healthcare System is Facing It\u2019s \u2018Worst Crisis\u2019 Ever. - Ontario Health Coalition\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-07T15:45:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-26T18:33:39+00:00\",\"description\":\"(February 6, 2025) By: Rumneek Johal, PressProgress \u2018Healthcare in Ontario has never been in such disarray\u2019, experts say Healthcare advocates and labour\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/hallway-medicine-endless-wait-times-overworked-staff-ontarios-healthcare-system-is-facing-its-worst-crisis-ever\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/hallway-medicine-endless-wait-times-overworked-staff-ontarios-healthcare-system-is-facing-its-worst-crisis-ever\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/hallway-medicine-endless-wait-times-overworked-staff-ontarios-healthcare-system-is-facing-its-worst-crisis-ever\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hallway Medicine. Endless Wait Times. Overworked Staff. Ontario\u2019s Healthcare System is Facing It\u2019s \u2018Worst Crisis\u2019 Ever.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ontario Health Coalition\",\"description\":\"Our primary goal is to protect and improve our public health care system\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Ontario Health Coalition\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/logo_ohc_new-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/logo_ohc_new-1.png\",\"width\":478,\"height\":240,\"caption\":\"Ontario Health Coalition\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ontariohealth?fref=ts\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/OntarioHealthC\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/ontariohealthcoalition\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tiktok.com\\\/@ontariohealthc\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCPy4Erf4xGLZV6CY23xdokw\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3bee6583f445dde27b35a7bba61b06b4\",\"name\":\"admin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hallway Medicine. Endless Wait Times. Overworked Staff. Ontario\u2019s Healthcare System is Facing It\u2019s \u2018Worst Crisis\u2019 Ever. - Ontario Health Coalition","description":"(February 6, 2025) By: Rumneek Johal, PressProgress \u2018Healthcare in Ontario has never been in such disarray\u2019, experts say Healthcare advocates and labour","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/hallway-medicine-endless-wait-times-overworked-staff-ontarios-healthcare-system-is-facing-its-worst-crisis-ever\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hallway Medicine. Endless Wait Times. Overworked Staff. Ontario\u2019s Healthcare System is Facing It\u2019s \u2018Worst Crisis\u2019 Ever. - Ontario Health Coalition","og_description":"(February 6, 2025) By: Rumneek Johal, PressProgress \u2018Healthcare in Ontario has never been in such disarray\u2019, experts say Healthcare advocates and labour","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/hallway-medicine-endless-wait-times-overworked-staff-ontarios-healthcare-system-is-facing-its-worst-crisis-ever\/","og_site_name":"Ontario Health Coalition","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ontariohealth?fref=ts","article_published_time":"2025-02-07T15:45:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-26T18:33:39+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/hallway-medicine-endless-wait-times-overworked-staff-ontarios-healthcare-system-is-facing-its-worst-crisis-ever\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/hallway-medicine-endless-wait-times-overworked-staff-ontarios-healthcare-system-is-facing-its-worst-crisis-ever\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/3bee6583f445dde27b35a7bba61b06b4"},"headline":"Hallway Medicine. Endless Wait Times. Overworked Staff. Ontario\u2019s Healthcare System is Facing It\u2019s \u2018Worst Crisis\u2019 Ever.","datePublished":"2025-02-07T15:45:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-26T18:33:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/hallway-medicine-endless-wait-times-overworked-staff-ontarios-healthcare-system-is-facing-its-worst-crisis-ever\/"},"wordCount":834,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#organization"},"articleSection":["OHC in the News","Privatization"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/hallway-medicine-endless-wait-times-overworked-staff-ontarios-healthcare-system-is-facing-its-worst-crisis-ever\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/hallway-medicine-endless-wait-times-overworked-staff-ontarios-healthcare-system-is-facing-its-worst-crisis-ever\/","name":"Hallway Medicine. Endless Wait Times. Overworked Staff. Ontario\u2019s Healthcare System is Facing It\u2019s \u2018Worst Crisis\u2019 Ever. - Ontario Health Coalition","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-02-07T15:45:59+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-26T18:33:39+00:00","description":"(February 6, 2025) By: Rumneek Johal, PressProgress \u2018Healthcare in Ontario has never been in such disarray\u2019, experts say Healthcare advocates and labour","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/hallway-medicine-endless-wait-times-overworked-staff-ontarios-healthcare-system-is-facing-its-worst-crisis-ever\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/hallway-medicine-endless-wait-times-overworked-staff-ontarios-healthcare-system-is-facing-its-worst-crisis-ever\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/hallway-medicine-endless-wait-times-overworked-staff-ontarios-healthcare-system-is-facing-its-worst-crisis-ever\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hallway Medicine. Endless Wait Times. Overworked Staff. Ontario\u2019s Healthcare System is Facing It\u2019s \u2018Worst Crisis\u2019 Ever."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/","name":"Ontario Health Coalition","description":"Our primary goal is to protect and improve our public health care system","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#organization","name":"Ontario Health Coalition","url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/logo_ohc_new-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/logo_ohc_new-1.png","width":478,"height":240,"caption":"Ontario Health Coalition"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ontariohealth?fref=ts","https:\/\/x.com\/OntarioHealthC","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ontariohealthcoalition","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@ontariohealthc","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCPy4Erf4xGLZV6CY23xdokw"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/3bee6583f445dde27b35a7bba61b06b4","name":"admin"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30245"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30246,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30245\/revisions\/30246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}