(October 28, 2019)<\/p>\n
By:\u00a0Jeffrey Ougler, The\u00a0Sault Star<\/p>\n
Provincial government promises to end hallway health care ring hollow \u2014 and upcoming rallies are geared to state this fact loud and clear, says Ontario Health Coalition.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the group unveiled its plan for a rally at noon, Nov. 30, at Algoma University\u2019s George Leach Centre \u2014 similar events are slated for Chatham, Toronto and Ottawa \u2014 to shine a light on cuts to Ontario health care and \u201csave\u201d the system.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Premier) Doug Ford actually ran his campaign promising more, not less, health-care services \u2026 Ontarians can\u2019t actually accept less health-care services,\u201d Natalie Mehra, Ontario Health Coalition executive director, told reporters Monday morning at a press conference at Senior Citizens Drop-In Centre.<\/p>\n
Northern Ontario, especially Sault Ste. Marie, has been \u201cparticularly troubled\u201d by long emergency department waits and \u201cinadequate\u201d numbers of long-term-care beds, Mehra said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlready services have been very centralized across giant regions in the North \u2026 Already, people have much (less) access to health-care issues than in southern Ontario,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you plan to centralize, which is made in Toronto by Toronto advisers, doesn\u2019t work for southern Ontario, it\u2019s much, much worse for Northern Ontario. We needed to come to the North for sure. This is where we can have a maximum political impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mehra pointed to sweeping changes to health care under the Ford government, which include the province consolidating 14 local health integration networks, Cancer Care Ontario, eHealth Ontario and several other agencies, into a new organization called Ontario Health.<\/p>\n
She also tagged planned closures of 25 of 35 public health units and 49 of 59 local ambulance services.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this case, the cuts are so draconian,\u201d Mehra said.<\/p>\n
OHC contends the province has set overall health funding at less than the rate of inflation and population growth, let alone aging, and set public hospital funding at less than the rate of inflation. Funding for long-term care, daily care, is set at one per cent, which is about half the rate of inflation and equals \u201creal dollar\u201d cuts,\u201d OHC says. And, although some cuts have been cancelled retroactively, there are no plans to ultimately halt them, Mehra said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not stopped,\u201d she added. \u201cThere\u2019s no evidence to support the public health cuts. There\u2019s no evidence to support the centralization of ambulance services \u2014 and even less so in Northern Ontario.\u201d<\/p>\n
Officials hope to get the word out about the rally via door-to-door visits, posters and setting up a campaign office. Volunteers are sought, as are donations, which would assist in the cost of transporting rural residents to the event.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody supports (health-care cuts) \u2026 It doesn\u2019t matter who you voted for,\u201d said Mehra, who describes OHC as non-partisan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t tell people how to vote. We just tell the truth and try to protect health-care services for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s event also heard from others who argue the province\u2019s health-care system has let them \u2014 and all Ontarians \u2014 down.<\/p>\n
James Kemp spent 34 years in corrections and suffers from post-traumatic stress\u00a0disorder \u201cpretty badly\u201d \u2014 so severely, he attempted to end his own life. Earlier, he called a Sault-based suicide prevention line and was told to call back because no one qualified was available to speak to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt took a suicide attempt before I actually got help,\u201d Kemp said.<\/p>\n
He then called a psychologist to whom he was referred, but was then put on a six-month waiting list. He only got to see the specialist sooner because he knew her. For Kemp, it took six years of attending the hospital ER, calling help lines and addressing the matter with workplace officials, before more substantial assistance came his way.<\/p>\n
He contends there are few, or no, specialists in Northern Ontario who deal specifically with PTSD.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have the resources up here now,\u201d he said. \u201cIf Ford makes the cuts that he\u2019s planning on making, it\u2019s going to be even worse and people are going to die.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jean Hershey, of Algoma Family Council Coalition, said of the chief problems plaguing long-term care is the profound burden placed on personal support workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognize that PSWs are a concerned, compassionate and caring group, who are suffering because of the government\u2019s lack of funding for long-term care,\u201d said Hershey, adding that in Ontario, the PSW role is not regulated and has no training standardization.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is little to recommend it as a career opportunity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Morgan Fiaschetti, Algoma co-ordinator for Ontario Autism Coalition, has seen health-care cuts far too close to home.<\/p>\n
She related the shock of taking her son, 12, to the ER when he was engaging in behaviour that was \u201charming himself,\u201d and was told to \u201cgo home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ford government has cut service significantly to our children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Changes to \u201cneeds-based\u201d funding is seeing dollars to families delayed, she said.<\/p>\n
The province announced in the summer it would continue to fund autism services at $600 million annually to form a needs-based system parents and advocates favoured. But the April timeline is far too late, many argue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a broken system,\u201d Fiaschetti said. \u201cThe Ford government has failed us immensely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pam Mancuso, Ontario Nurses Association Region 1 vice-president, said hallway health care is alive and well in the many facilities she has visited within her jurisdiction, which runs from North Bay to James Bay to the Manitoba border.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery cubbyhole, every alleyway, anything they can find that they can put a stretcher in and make a bed, that\u2019s what they\u2019re doing right now to try to accommodate the large numbers that are coming in emerge,\u201d said the Sault-based registered nurse, adding cuts to community health services are often the culprit.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, hospitals are becoming even more overcrowded because of that.\u201d<\/p>\n