Defend Public Healthcare

The pandemic led to a brief reprieve from the austerity that has bedevilled Ontario hospital care since the great recession. After decades of being on par with other provinces, hospital funding fell far behind the rest of Canada. At the start of the pandemic the Ontario government was obsessed with the lack of capacity in Ontario hospitals, tragically compounding the crowding in long-term care by ordering hospitals to discharge patients to long-term care.  Despite the mass death in long-term care, very few sick or dying resients were transferred for treatment in hospital. They died in their homes.   But the government also moved to increase hospital funding in 2020-21 -- increasing it by more than ever before. That new money is temporary, however.   Cuts are coming: The government established a budgeting system in 2020-21 which would see much of the COVID-related funding budgeted under special funds distinct from the normal ministry line items. So, much of the increased funding for th