Defend Public Healthcare

Scarborough General Hospital. Photo by  Benson Kua While physicians and surgeons have not usually been at the forefront of campaigns against cutbacks, more of them have begun to express concerns about hospital cuts in Ontario. Here are three recent examples. with a different emphasis from each. At a Rotary Club meeting May 3, Dr. Robert Ting, president of the Medical Staff Association at the Scarborough Hospital, noted the issue isn't management, it's a lack of funding, and it's getting  worse. " The politicians, they can  criticize  the management and everything, but even if they had  the best  management in the world, they wouldn't be able to keep the hospitals open under this kind of scenario... This is just the tip of the iceberg, " Dr Ting warned .   The hospital is facing $19.6 million in cuts and more than 300 doctors have signed a petition decrying the cuts. In Perth-Smith Falls, the Lanark County Medical Society organized a well atte

"We are going to have to take money out of the hospitals. It's not a small amount. We're talking about millions," Debbie Hammond, CEO of the government's Central East Local Health Integration Network told the Scarborough Mirror . One result is hospitals will specialize, focusing on what they do best, Rouge Hospital CEO John Wright said. "Not all hospitals will do all things. That is coming and that is exactly what the government wants."  Some services will move out of hospitals into the community, and hospitals will work with each other, "sorting out who does what," Wright added.  "There's no way to say, 'I want a full-service hospital in my backyard.' The hospital will go bankrupt and close." Centralizing hospital services across regions will make those services harder to access as families are forced to travel further to access services and visit loved ones.   Those without cars will be especially hard hit. Servi

The Central East Community Care Access Centre (covering Durham, Northumberland, Peterborough, Haliburton, and Scarborough) reports a drastic decline in the amount of services it provided in its most recent annual report . There was 199,000 fewer "units" of personal support provided than in the previous year. The personal support budget was cut almost $4 million.  Nursing was harder hit. Nursing visits were reduced by 250,000 "units" and  2,000 fewer clients were served.  The visiting nurse budget was cut by over $8 million -- a 19% cut. Physiotherapy service units were cut 28%. Overall, Central East CCAC expenditures were cut almost $12 million, while its revenue actually increased over $7 million. In 2009-10 there was a significant deficit, so these cuts may have been made to make up for CCAC's debt. With no guarantee of home care, the care you receive is driven by budget rather than need.

The Globe and Mail ran a very interesting Saturday cover story on plans to increase fresh, nutritious, local, and hospital cooked food at Scarborough Hospital. It deserves quotation. "People in power have begun to recognize the link between health and good food, and believe it should be heeded in a place that caters to the ailing. Paradoxically, hospital patients are fed some of the nation’s cheapest food – each meal costs less than three dollars per person. Much of it goes into the trash: About 40 per cent of what kitchens dish out is rejected. Administrators everywhere are struggling with this and low patient satisfaction; many admit they would never feed their families the low-budget food their kitchens serve to patients.... "The most tantalizing prospect involves adding fresh or local foods and returning to scratch cooking. Most Canadian hospitals have long since given up the basics, such as distilling soup stock from simmered bones, in favour of convenient powdered