(May 4, 2016)<\/p>\n
Author: Wallaceburg Courier Press<\/p>\n
When it comes to cuts to\u00a0 hospital nursing care and hospital beds in Canada, Ontario leads the way.<\/p>\n
That was the conclusion of an Ontario Health Coalition report that was released last month.<\/p>\n
The report, ‘Beyond Limits: Ontario\u2019s Deepening Hospital Cuts Crisis’, says cuts to community hospital care are a result of eight consecutive years of global funding for the province\u2019s hospitals.<\/p>\n
The report says Ontario\u2019s community hospitals are lagging behind virtually all other provinces in every reasonable measure of hospital funding. The coalition\u2019s report includes an updated list tracking hospital service and staffing cuts in every region of the province for the last four years.<\/p>\n
Outlined in the report are cuts to Wallaceburg’s Sydenham District Hospital, which, according to the report include:<\/p>\n
Cuts Reported in 2016<\/p>\n
\u00b7 Proposed closure of emergency department proposed in order to target a $1.8 million budget deficit.
\nCuts Reported in 2013<\/p>\n
\u00b7 22 full-time positions to be cut in an attempt to balance the budget.<\/p>\n
Cuts Reported in 2012<\/p>\n
\u00b7 Closure of the entire 10 bed complex continuing care unit and the laboratory.<\/p>\n
\u00b7 At the time, the hospital promised to offset these cuts by adding beds at the Chatham-Kent site, but this never materialized.<\/p>\n
\u00b7 The hospital has been gutted by cuts over the years. It has five beds remaining.<\/p>\n
The Ontario Health Coalition said the provincial government has cut hospitals\u2019 global budgets in real-dollar terms for eight years in a row. The report also says Ontario has the fewest hospital beds left of all provinces in Canada, and lags far below the other provinces.<\/p>\n
The report also says Ontario has the highest hospital readmission rates in Canada, and they are rising.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy every reasonable measure, Ontario\u2019s hospital funding levels are at or near the bottom of the country and far from the average of the other provinces,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n
The report said cuts are resulting a crisis of overcrowding; cancelled surgeries because there are no beds; too-early discharges; high re-admission rates; infections; violence; ambulance delays; understaffing; and compromised safety for patients and staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cSmall and rural hospitals are being eviscerated despite all evidence regarding community need. The fact that staffing and funding are being cut to unsafe levels without any reasonable benchmarks shows just how far beyond any limits Ontario\u2019s hospital cuts have gone,\u201d said Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition. \u201cThis issue should be considered the serious crisis that it truly is, by our policy makers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Student interns from Ryerson University\u2019s nursing program, Patricia Julian and Celine Yu helped to research and compile the list of cuts<\/p>\n