\u00a0Windsor protesters gave Ontario\u2019s health-care system a thorough examination Tuesday and offered a grim diagnosis.<\/strong><\/p>\nAbout\u00a060 people rallied against health-care cutbacks\u00a0outside Caesar\u2019s Windsor while another 10 health organizations made\u00a0presentations during\u00a0provincial pre-budget hearings.<\/p>\n
\u201cOntario is now at the bottom of the country in terms of health-care funding,\u201d Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition, said during the\u00a0second day of a five-city tour by an\u00a0all-party committee.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Windsor, you\u2019ve seen the latest example of devastating cuts with more than a 160 front-line caregivers cut.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeclining services in the face of overwhelming need makes for unsafe health care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mehra, along with Ontario Federation of Labour president Chris Buckley, were the keynote speakers at the rally.<\/p>\n
While the protestors focused on the impact of cuts, Windsor Regional Hospital CEO\u00a0and president David Musyj zeroed in on the cause.<\/p>\n
Hospital funding has been frozen at $19 billion for the past several years and a new funding formula introduced in 2012 is costing\u00a0Windsor Regional millions in lost revenue.<\/p>\n
\u201cHospitals in towns like Windsor, where there\u2019s stagnant or slow growth, are paying for the expansion of health-care services in fast-growing places like the GTA,\u201d Musyj said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt cost us $10 million in this budget. It\u2019s cost us $20 million since 2012.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn its current form, this formula is unsustainable for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Musyj added the rising cost of electricity is also damaging the hospital\u2019s bottom line.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t done anything different from last year, not one ounce, yet we\u2019re going to pay $700,000 more this year on electricity,\u201d Musyj said.<\/p>\n
Liberal MPP Laura Albanese, parliamentary assistant to Finance Minister Charles Sousa, acknowledged even hospitals in slower growing regions of Toronto face the same challenges\u00a0under the formula.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a common theme,\u201d Albanese said.\u00a0\u201cI think the new discussion paper the Ministry of Health put out is probably going to drive some of these changes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Albanese said the government has offered up some extra money to WRH\u00a0to ease some of the financial burden.<\/p>\n
Carol Derbyshire, executive director of the Hospice of Windsor and Essex County, told the committee small investments in palliative care reap big savings.<\/p>\n
A bed at the hospice\u2019s residential unit costs $469 per day to operate, about one third of the cost of a hospital bed.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatients at our residence are patients that aren\u2019t occupying hospital beds,\u201d Derbyshire said.<\/p>\n
Derbyshire said the hospice has to raise between $300,000 and $400,000 annually because the government grant doesn\u2019t cover the operating costs of the residence.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are always surprised we have to raise money for utilities and essentials for patient services,\u201d Derbyshire said.<\/p>\n
Progressive Conservative finance critic Vic Fedeli said Tuesday\u2019s presentations reflect\u00a0what the committee has heard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not seeing the forest for the trees because the Liberal government can\u2019t find a way to set priorities,\u201d Fedeli said.<\/p>\n
Though the topic was different, Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara echoed the message of predictable, sustainable funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like a lottery getting grants for infrastructure,\u201d said McNamara, who is also president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. \u201cYou have 25 municipalities who are happy and over 300 more towns with empty plates.\u201d<\/p>\n
McNamara also implored the government to address the arbitration system for emergency services contracts.<\/p>\n
\u201cEMS salaries are rising at more than three times the rate of inflation,\u201d McNamara said.\u00a0\u201cThe public struggles to understand why the cost adjustments for this group is so much higher than other public employees.\u201d<\/p>\n
McNamara said if\u00a0pay increases had been in line with other municipal employees since 2002, the province would\u2019ve saved $485 million.<\/p>\n
Click here for original article<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(January 19, 2016) By: Dave Waddell, Windsor Star \u00a0Windsor protesters gave Ontario\u2019s health-care system a thorough examination Tuesday and offered a grim diagnosis. About\u00a060 people rallied against health-care cutbacks\u00a0outside Caesar\u2019s Windsor while another 10 health organizations made\u00a0presentations during\u00a0provincial pre-budget hearings. \u201cOntario is now at the bottom of the country in terms of health-care funding,\u201d Natalie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ohc-in-the-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
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