Defend Public Healthcare

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan’s speech to public sector labour leaders proposing a compensation freeze was accompanied by a power point slide show.  And it makes for some interesting reading. The government claims that the main period of austerity will occur, not now or next year, but in the period between 2012-13 and 2017-18. That would mean eight years of austerity -- two for the compensation freeze and then six years of much lower funding increases. Indeed, the austerity we are currently seeing is very modest compared with the austerity proposed for the years beginning 2012-13, when program expense increases will, allegedly, fall to less than 1/3 of the increases the Liberals set up to 2008-9. If the austerity proposed for the years starting in 2012-13 is actually implemented, we would be in the hopper.  For the current period the government says it has reduced program funding increases significantly -- from an average of 6.6% for the period up to 2008-9, to  4.8%.  That&

Just as the government of Ontario proposes a compensation freeze for the public sector, the government of Ontario reports that 43,160 Ontario construction workers settled their contract negotiations, with their collective agreements effective 1 May 2010. The average annual wage increase for the construction settlements is 2.5% (according to the government of Ontario). Good for the construction workers. That's a well deserved real wage increase. It seems that at least some parts of the private sector are making a come back. And that is certainly consistent with Finance Minister Dwight Duncan's bragging earlier this month about Ontario economic growth and declining deficits. In May 2010, private sector wage settlements were two and a half times the size of public sector settlements.  According to the government of Ontario. So, as we move forward, it is worth remembering that after the last recession (in the 1990s) it took some time for public sector settlements to catc

Well, when the full Canadian Press story on hospital funding came out this morning, Health Minister Deb Matthews was cited as claiming hospital funding went up last year by 5.6%. That's an awful lot more than previously reported.  The Accountability Agreements the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care signed with the Local Health Integration Networks set out an increase of $429 million (from $13.896 billion to $14.325 billion). That's an increase of only 3.08%. (For the  2008/9 and 2009/10 Accountability Agreements see here and here , pages 43 and 48.) If correct, that's an additional funding increase of 2.52% -- or  $350 million . So, was the Minister misquoted, did she get her figures wrong, or did some extra money role in? And if the latter, should we expect a similar bump up in funding this year as well? dallan@cupe.ca

The Star and the Globe reported today on a meeting called by the Ontario Ministry of Finance for tomorrow with public sector labour leaders on the government's proposed compensation freeze for unionized workers. • The Star hints at an issue with this process: it is being started in the dog days of summer, when the union membership is on vacation. A coincidence? Maybe not.    Moreover, the Liberals are up for election in the fall of 2011, and the closer we get to that date, the more hesitant the Liberals will be about getting into trouble with labour. And the more leverage the unions will have.  • The Star reports that “Municipalities, which handle their own wage settlements, will not be represented.” at Tuesday’s meeting between public sector labour leaders and the Ontario Ministry of Finance. • The Star also reports that the Ontario government will save $750 million by next year through its proposed wage freeze. Whoopee. The government took $3.4 billion off last year’

Kudos to Maria Babbage at the Canadian Press for today's  story on hospital deficits. Nobody else is digging up the facts on hospital funding like she is.  Nevertheless, the bottom line is hardly surprising: For the second year in a row, more than a third of Ontario hospitals are bleeding red ink, amounting to a $107-million shortfall. Sixty-one of the province's 159 public hospitals, or 38 per cent, reported a deficit in the last fiscal year that ended March 31... The financial picture of Ontario hospitals is largely unchanged from the previous year, when 61 hospitals reported shortfalls amounting to $154-million... There is concern that while the number of cash-strapped hospitals remained steady, it may be a different story in 2011 due to shrinking provincial funds. But buried at the end of the story is a surprising fact: The Niagara Health System, which (in)famously played ball with the Ontario government by cutting services and Emergency Rooms, got a WHOPPING $49 mill

More good news, this time with bed cuts proposed for West Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Grimsby. As usual, this is funding driven, after the hospital sucked up and paid down two years of deficits with its cash reserves  (racking up a $1 million deficit in 2008-9 and $1.5 million in 2009-10).  That money was supposed to go for better facilities.    But No. Also as usual, 'ALC' patients get the blame. And also ALSO as usual, it’s not clear where these patients will go. It remains unclear, to this writer at least, how many beds will go.  Fourteen staff positions will be ‘affected’.  The hospital says it will develop its plans in the coming weeks. That's something to look forward to. For more see this . – D. dallan@cupe.ca

Occasionally, hospitals suggest that cutting back, or contracting-out, housekeeping is not so bad if it only affects hospital offices, or other areas where the patients are not immediately found.  So it's useful to see a news report today in which Michelle Baird, the Hamilton public health infectious disease and control manager, indicates that hospital infectious control staff should ensure keyboards are properly cleaned since hospitals have patients with compromised immune systems. The report also notes that a British consumer organization study found keyboards five times dirtier than the average toilet seat. And tests at a Chicago hospital in 2005 found bacteria including VRE and MRSA living on the keys for 24 hours. Oh yeah -  Ms Baird also says if people are ill, they should call in sick. Sounds like a good idea -- especially in a hospital.  But the sad truth is, now-a-days that can be a good way to get into trouble at a hospital, as the province is cracking down on sick