Defend Public Healthcare

Ontario Conservative leader Tim Hudak told reporters Wednesday that he would make cuts in the public sector. Hudak highlighted three broad areas for cuts. He would cut the number of boards, agencies, and commissions, he would end subsidies to corporations, and he would restrain public sector union collective agreements.   The McGuinty government has already eliminated many agencies, boards and commissions (to little fanfare) so that promise may not amount to much.  As for corporate subsidies, those should naturally decline as the recession ends (corporate subsidies are often rushed out during a recession, to prop up a floundering business sector).  Moreover, Hudak's promise still leaves plenty of opportunity for more corporate tax cuts (which is really another form of public sector expense, and one that the McGunity government has used, at great cost to the public). That leaves restraints on public sector collective agreements.  What the Tory leader means, exactly, however, r

The government has for some time identified health care and education as priorities for the government, and the 2010 Budget again flagged that status. Accordingly, health care has seen significant funding increases. The provincial government increased health care spending 6% in the 2010-11 Budget.  The four year health spending increase since 2006-7 is 29.1% (from $35.7 billion to $46.1 billion). The government says it plans to increase health care funding an additional $1.9 billion or 4.12% in 2011-12.   A similar forecast in the previous Budget turned out to be low.  So this may also be low. Doctors have gotten a large chunk of the new health care funding. OHIP funding for doctors has increased from $8.6 billion in the 2006-7 Estimates to $11.9 billion in 2010-11, a 38.4% increase over four years. Despite recent increases in Ontario health care spending, Ontario still lags most other provinces. Ontario spends $173 less per capita than the other provinces. It would take $2.3 bil

New funding totaling $985,700 will keep 20 beds open at the Cornwall hospital until the end of the fiscal year. This should keep the "transitional care" beds opened in August running until March 31.    "At which time there are other strategies in the works," hospital CEO Jeanette Despatie said . The 20 convalescent beds were created in August to help deal with hospital overcrowding in Cornwall. Just before Christmas, Liberal MPP Rick Bartolucci announced another $1.4 million for Sudbury health care-- another area with severe hospital overcrowding. In this case, the money is dedicated to home care services and  new LTC beds. This announcement follows local campaigns (by CUPE and others) to defend health services. New health care money is often announced just about now -- late in the fiscal year.    So there may be more to come in the weeks ahead.  dallan@cupe.ca

A commentary from yesterday's Nanaimo Daily News on superbug outbreaks at the local hospital: What VIHA  (the local health authority) had to learn was this: to put the proper resources into cleaning and infection control rather than public relations. What we know from the last outbreak was that poorly paid and poorly trained cleaning staff were not doing a good enough job. The Daily News revealed continued understaffing, low pay, and poor training of cleaning staff by the private contractor hired to replace government workers after Bill 29 was introduced in 2002. While that was bad enough, VIHA was trying to hide those facts and that these problems among cleaning staff led in part to the last C. diff. outbreak. Following C. Difficile and other hospital infection problems,  the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) ditched its five year contract with Compass for housekeeping services. Unfortunately, there are few signs that such lessons are being take seriously in Ontario

A staff member at Peterborough Regional Health Centre found a fingernail in her soup at the hospital's cafeteria. The cafeteria has been taken over by the giant transnational corporation, Compass.  They claim the fingernail came in a package from a supplier (of course) . Compass is also trying to take over food services at Kingston General Hospital, likely shipping in food from the same facility as in Peterborough. Soup anyone? dallan@cupe.ca

The Civic and General campuses of the Ottawa Hospital are dealing with outbreaks of anti-biotic resistant superbugs.  And medical experts are blaming hospital overcrowding. Dr. Kathy Suh, the hospital's director for infectious diseases said medical staff have taken steps to isolate those with the infections to prevent further spreading. "We try to identify patients who have these early, admit them to private rooms where possible," said Suh. But here, as elsewhere, that is not so easy. "The factors that have led to this largely have to do with the volume of patients we are admitting to the hospital," said Suh. "We are quite often over capacity, but that does provide challenges in being able to isolate patients in private rooms as we would like to. Both campuses are fighting VRE, and the hospital expects about ten times more cases than normal. The Civic campus is also dealing with MRSA and C. Difficile. It's good to see that the media is begi

CUPE Local 1623 members protested Monday to demand the North East LHIN consult citizens in northeastern Ontario before it closes 130 hospital beds at the Memorial site of Sudbury Regional Hospital in March.   About 190 hospital jobs are at stake, but Dave Shelefontiuk, CUPE Local 1623 president, noted that he is more worried about how the elderly will be taken care of in the future. Shelefontiuk called on the North East Local Health Integration Network to live up to the word "local" in its name and hold a public forum to discuss the closure of transitional beds. When contacted about the protest by the Sudbury Star , the LHIN replied via email, re-issuing a statement the LHIN made Nov. 24. Shelefontiuk adds of the rally: "I t was freezing, with the wind chill it was minus 30. But there was some workers from Memorial site there. We are now planning a public forum." dallan@cupe.ca