{"id":32335,"date":"2026-10-19T14:37:38","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T18:37:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?p=32335"},"modified":"2026-10-20T13:57:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-20T17:57:46","slug":"release-ford-government-must-answer-for-their-hospital-cuts-in-hamilton-niagara-while-patients-report-unconscionable-waits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/release-ford-government-must-answer-for-their-hospital-cuts-in-hamilton-niagara-while-patients-report-unconscionable-waits\/","title":{"rendered":"RELEASE:<\/FONT> Ford government must answer for their hospital cuts in Hamilton & Niagara while patients report \u2018unconscionable\u2019 waits"},"content":{"rendered":"

(October 19, 2026)<\/p>\n

Hamilton\/Niagara \u2013 Patients are suffering lengthy waits and inadequate services while the Ford government continues to<\/a><\/span> repeatedly claim<\/a> <\/span>that cutting more than 600 hospital staff has no impact on care, a situation that the Ontario Health Coalition called \u2018unconscionable\u2019 today. Hospitals across Ontario have been forced into deficit because the Ford government set funding levels that are inadequate to meet their populations\u2019 needs. The government has required the hospitals to find cuts to eliminate deficits. In Hamilton and Niagara, the cuts are extreme by any measure. In context, Ontario\u2019s government funds our hospitals at the lowest rate of any province<\/a><\/span> and it also funds all our public health care at the lowest rate<\/a><\/span> in the country.<\/p>\n

The Niagara Health System has been putting out social media<\/a><\/span> and media posts to \u201ccorrect\u201d what they call false rumours circulating in the communities on the peninsula that the average wait time in the Welland Hospital is 45 hours. In their own response<\/a><\/span>, the hospital reports it takes 15 hours to treat and discharge emergency patients who do not need to be admitted and patients who need admission are waiting literally days \u2013 56 hours \u2013 for a bed in Niagara\u2019s overwhelmed hospital system. Yet cuts and closures are moving ahead. In Hamilton, union <\/a><\/span>\u00a0and hospital<\/span><\/a> data shows that emergency department wait times for patients that need admission average 24 hours.<\/p>\n

Hospital cuts are disclosed mostly through layoff notices. Each full-time equivalent staff position represents 1820 hours of care work per year. Hamilton-Niagara has seen cuts to at least 617 hospital jobs. That total jumps to 757 if you count the closure of the long-term care beds in Welland.<\/p>\n