With the election over, pressure to cut public programs has become quite intense. In almost all of the corporate owned media someone is barking on about it. Another option — increasing revenue from the wealthy is not mentioned. However, data clearly indicates that Ontario does not have an overspending problem
Continue readingAuthor: Doug Allan
Defending Public Healthcare: Ontario job creation falls well short of plan
In the Budget, the government projected 100,000 job growth in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. That’s an annual increase of about 1.4%. But the government is having a problem meeting its jobs target in 2014. Comparing the average of the first six months of 2013 with the first six of 2014 shows
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Ontario hospital capacity falls short of other provinces
Ontario has far fewer hospital beds than other provinces. Compared to other countries, we are even further behind. For the club of the 33 richest nations (the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development), the average is 4.8 hospital beds per 1000 population in 2012 (or the reported year closest to
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Rest of Canada spends 23% more on hospitals than Ontario
Provincial government hospital expenditure per person in Ontario compared to the rest of Canada based on CIHI data. A large gap has grown between what the Ontario provincial government spends on hospitals and what other Canadian provinces spend. Since 2004/5 the gap has grown from a mere $9.43 per person to
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Fewer staff means 19% more problems for Ontario hospital patients
What might happen if Tim Hudak gets his way and 100,000 public sector jobs are eliminated?Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) data shows that fewer personnel in hospital nursing units is associated with more problems for patients. CIHI reports the number of personnel per patient (or, more exactly, “per weighted case”
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Why the PCs think Mike Harris is a big-government union-lover
Many used to contrast the hard right policies of the former Mike Harris Progressive Conservative government with the milder PC policies of Bill Davis and the Big Blue Machine. But Tim Hudak’s PCs go much further. Here’s two examples:[1] The PCs say they will cut spending on programs by $7.6
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Hospital P3 scandal gets worse, but Ontario Liberals and PCs say bring on more!
The public private partnership (“P3”) hospital scandal in Montreal is getting even worse, if that is possible. As reported earlier, a police corruption investigation showed how SNC-Lavalin officials allegedly arranged payments of $22.5-million to McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) chief executive Arthur Porter and his side-kick Yanai Elbaz in exchange
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: PCs health care policy: cuts, privatization, mergers, and cuts
The PCs have developed two papers on health care policy, one dated September 2012 and another (which “builds on that foundation”) dated February 2013. Here are some key excerpts, with some commentary, starting with the 2012 paper, “Patient CentredHealth Care”. Terminate the LHINs and CCACs and turn their powers over
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: The lowdown on the PC plan for the public sector
Below are excerpts from the Progressive Conservative policy paper, “A New Deal for the Public Sector”. It contains some very radical ideas that go far beyond even what former PC premier Mike Harris implemented. Cut public spending: “To balance the budget, government spending must be cut. Just slowing the rate at
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Ontario public sector employment shrinks
Tim Hudak’s Progressive Conservatives like to say that there is “a bloated public sector” in Ontario. “We will need to make do with fewer government employees” they proclaim.In fact, we already are. The Ontario broader public sector has shrunk by 47,000 workers over the last year, a 3.5% decline.
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: How Ontario public sector health care funding lags behind
The Ontario public sector spends less than almost all other provinces on health care. And it’s falling further behind. Over the most recent four years per capita spending increased 9.7% across Canada, but only 5.2% in Ontario. With this, the Ontario public sector spends less per person than any other province
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Provincial public sector wage increases less than private sector for fourth year
For the fourth consecutive year in a row, wage settlements in the broader provincial public sector (i.e. public sector workers, like hospital employees, who do not work for federal or municipal governments) fell below the wage settlements in the private sector. In 2013, provincial public sector wage settlements averaged about
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Liberals support more private clinics – even as clinics turn on them
The Ontario government has gotten into another donnybrook with private clinics for a second time in less than a year. Over the summer, they got into a messy dispute with private physiotherapy clinics.The government stopped 94 physiotherapy clinics from directly billing OHIP. Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews said that, over
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Ontario Liberals fail to protect health care in trade deal with Europe
While the Harper Conservative government has pushed ahead with its Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union, the Ontario Liberal government has failed to protect public health care. Under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) protection for public health care was initially supposed to be provided through
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Patient Transfer Changes Continue — Boon or Bust for EMS?
Another LHIN-based initiative to restructure “non-urgent patient transfers” is underway. Non-urgent transfers are ambulance-like transfers for patients from hospital to hospital, from hospital to long-term care, or from hospital to home. While the cost of these transfers often simply come out of the hospital budget, austerity has made this more difficult. The
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: LHINs Fall Short: Privatization and Cuts
Below is the recent submission of OCHU to the Standing Committee on Social Policy of the Ontario Legislature:The Ontario Council of Hospital Workers (OCHU/CUPE) represents 30,000 hospital and long-term care workers in 65 hospitals across Ontario. We represent food service workers, maintenance workers, housekeepers, Registered Practical Nurses, Personal Support Workers,
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: US and Canadian public health care costs compared
Despite the lack of universal public insurance, U.S. governments actually spend much moreon health care than Canadian governments. Public sector health expenditure in the U.S.A. accounts for 8.5% of the economy, 7.9% in Canada, and 6.8% through the OECD (the club of 34 rich nations – which, unlike the U.S.A.,
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Mandatory flu vaccinations for health care workers
CUPE encourages health care workers to get an influenza vaccination if they can safely do so. But making flu shots mandatory for health care workers is a serious intrusion on the freedom and personal autonomy of health care workers that may sometimes have detrimental effects on their own health.
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Ambulance hospital delays improve – but we are still far behind
Ambulances are spending a little less of their time offloading patients according to the Ontario Municipal Benchmark Initiative (OMBI) public report for 2012. That is positive: time spent offloading patients to overcrowded hospitals could otherwise be spent responding more quickly to 911 emergency calls. Nevertheless, we remain far behind where
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Harper health care cuts: $8.2 billion less for Ontario
The Ontario Fall Economic Outlook indicates that 59% of the Ontario health care funding increase this year comes from the annual increase in funding from the federal government via the Canada Health Transfer (CHT). The federal transfer increase accounts for $752 million out of a total provincial health care increase
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