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Showing posts from February, 2010

Overcrowded hospitals and 'perfect storms'

They are cancelling elective surgeries in Ottawa this week, as two big hospitals have a lot more patients than beds.  Health care officials, as usual, talk of "perfect storms" and point the finger at various non-political causes (gastrointestinal outbreaks in nursing homes gets special mention in this case).     But the obvious factor that the media almost always misses is that the goverment forces all hospitals to have dangerously high occupancy levels. dallan@cupe.ca

...And never the twain shall meet.

"When we see hospitals close beds, that's actually in and of itself not a bad news story because so much more care is being provided in the community " -- Deb Matthews Ontario Minister of Health and LTC " Today, home-care funding as a percentage of the total health expenditure is estimated to be less than it was in 1998/99 when it was a 5.43% of the province's health-care expenditures. It is vital that the sector be resourced in order to achieve the results it is being called upon to deliver."  -- Sue VanderBent  -- Executive director, Ontario Home Care Association Hamilton dallan@cupe.ca

Blowin' smoke?

A few days ago I noted that Ontario Health Minister, Deb Matthews claimed, "When we see hospitals close beds, that's actually in and of itself not a bad news story because so much more care is being provided in the community " (my emphasis ). It's true the government had reached agreements with the LHINs which anticipated funding increases in 2010-11 of 4.98% for Community Care Access Centres, the organizations which fund home care services. But subsequently the government revised the agreements, and the new documents don't forecast any increase for the home care agencies -- instead they simply indicate that funding will be determined. So is Matthews blowing smoke, or will there be funding for 'so much more care' in the community? We will see. But this wouldn't be the first time government closed hospital services and tried to disguise it by claiming, falsely , that the cuts would be offset by more home care services.

Did I hear that right?

The Progressive Conservatives are now attacking the Local Health Integration Networks ( LHINs ). MPP and former Tory cabinet minister Jim Wilson says: "Invoices reveal that many of the same consultants who were getting rich off of eHealth were getting even richer by billing LHINs at the same time. In fact, one consultant who happens to be McGuinty's former health advisor, billed $80,000 to the Toronto Central LHIN at the exact same time she was getting paid $327 an hour by eHealth to, among other things, write a letter to a Liberal pollster not even involved with eHealth . This diversion of much-needed health dollars is significant. As an MPP , I receive phone calls all the time from constituents who can't find doctors, timely medical procedures, long-term care beds or homecare for loved ones. At the same time, I hear from hospitals that are facing deficits, nursing homes that want to expand to meet demand, and other health agencies that are struggling. A lot of

Rerun of the 1990s?

A letter in todays Cornwall Standard Freeholder concerning proposed hospital bed cuts in Cornwall. I think these observations hold true across the province. -- Doug dallan@cupe.ca Dear Editor, The proposed cuts of hospital beds and services looks like a rerun of the 1990s, when many thousands of beds were cut across the province. By the end of the 1990s, the public in communities across the province rose up against the cuts and forced the Mike Harris government to improve funding for community hospitals like our own. It was only because of the determined campaigns by local communities that we were able to maintain our community hospitals to the extent that we have. Unfortunately, it now looks like we will have to do the same with the Dalton McGuinty Liberal government. We are going to have to light a fire under local members of the provincial parliament and get them to stand up and defend our local community. I know CUPE Local 7811 will do its part. And we know that many in

One step forward...

The provincial government has just coughed up an extra $14 million for the Niagara Health System (a multi-site hospital) for the 2009-10 fiscal year, i.e. a year which will end in just over a month (March 31). Apparently, the money will be rolled into the hospital's base funding. This following solid community campaigns against cutbacks and closures of emergency rooms (reaching a terrible culmination when a young victim died while being driven to a more distant emergency room). This also follows the recent successful campaign to get the government to keep the Grace hospital in Toronto going. -- Doug dallan@cupe.ca

Try, Try, Try Again!

Saad Rafi was recently appointed the new Ontario Deputy Minister of Health and Long Term Care. A long time senior civil servant, Saad Rafi was also the National Leader for Infrastructure at the giant consulting firm Deloitte Canada. As such, Rafi was a key proponent of Public Private Partnerships in Canada, one of the main ways corporations are trying to get their mitts on public sector dollars. While close ties between the corporate and government worlds is nothing new, critics might find this appointment a little odd: the previous Deputy bounced out of the Ministry after a scandal at E-Health that revolved largely around contracting out and privatization. -- Doug dallan@cupe.ca

Less is more

A new line of attack from the Ontario Health Minister, Deb Matthews: cutting hospital beds and Emergency Rooms actually helps your health. "The decision to close - to convert - the two emergency rooms to urgent care centres was a quality of care decision," Matthews said. "It is not a funding cut decision." "When we see hospitals close beds, that's actually in and of itself not a bad news story because so much more care is being provided in the community," Matthews insisted yesterday. When they start saying cutbacks are good, it's probably a sign of things to come. But when we are already at 98% bed occupancy and backed up ERs, the signs are not good. -- Doug

The wages of cuts...

The McGuinty government's hospital bed cuts are coming home to roost. This week the Ottawa Citizen is running a series on the sad impact on one woman who was moved from a hospital to a for-profit retirement home. Here's the comment from the Chief Coroner: "The circumstances surrounding this woman's death should alert health care professionals that, despite pressures to move the frail elderly out of hospitals to other settings ... it is important to remember that these elderly clients are awaiting long-term care home placement precisely because their care needs are so heavy that they are difficult, if not impossible, to provide in a community, private-care setting". The story lists many shortcomings of care in this sad case. As the government forces more hospital bed cuts (another 16 were announced in Cornwall yesterday), there will be more sad stories. As one LHIN CEO said: “We’re going to make mistakes…” -- Doug Got a tip? Email dallan@cupe.ca