(April 25, 2016)<\/p>\n
By: Julie Kotsis, Windsor Star<\/p>\n
The Windsor Health Coalition launched its referendum campaign Monday aimed at pressuring the Ontario government to stop cuts to health care, including the loss of 169 registered nurses at local hospitals.<\/p>\n
Coalition chairman Ken Lewenza Jr. said the group is committed to a provincewide, volunteer-led vote next month \u2014 calling on Premier Kathleen Wynne and the government \u201cto listen to regular Ontarians who do not want to see any more hospital cuts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lewenza said nine straight years of health-care cuts in \u201creal funding\u201d have left Ontario near the\u00a0bottom when it comes to per capita funding for hospitals. He\u00a0claimed that while the federal government provides six per cent funding to Ontario for health care, all of that money is not being spent on\u00a0health care.<\/p>\n
He said a \u201cstrong health accord\u201d is needed.<\/p>\n
Ontario Nursing Association bargaining unit president Susan Sommerdyk,\u00a0who attended\u00a0the kickoff at the coalition\u2019s\u00a0new campaign office on Walker Road, said the situation at Windsor Regional Hospital has been \u201chorrendous\u201d for staff and has led to less time for patient care.<\/p>\n
Sommerdyk said nursing schedules are posted eight weeks in advance, so changes expected to happen in mid-June are starting to appear. Registered nurses are being replaced by lower-paid registered practical nurses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have holes in the schedules because they\u2019re not sure who\u2019s going into those positions,\u201d she said. \u201cWe still don\u2019t know what the staffing ratios are going to be \u2026 people are afraid to move jobs because they\u2019re afraid \u2026 of getting laid off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sommerdyk said, as people leave, they aren\u2019t being replaced so workloads have increased as well as wait times for patients.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe morale is very, very low,\u201d she said. \u201cThe workload and the stress is just too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hospital, which has more than\u00a04,000 employees, must cut $20 million \u2014\u00a0or four per cent \u2014\u00a0from its $500-million annual budget because of reduced government funding.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople don\u2019t believe \u2026 that we\u2019re in a crisis (but) the staff is running around overworked, (under) a lot of pressure,\u201d Lewenza said.<\/p>\n
The Windsor Health Coalition is working in conjunction with the Ontario Health Coalition and an Essex County Health Coalition has just formed. The groups will work to mobilize community support and rally residents to vote in the referendum on May 28.<\/p>\n
Volunteers will appear at grocery stores and other high traffic areas to spread the word and Lewenza said they hope to place ballot boxes around the city and in unionized workplaces.<\/p>\n