Yesterday, I wrote about the significant lack of nursing care in Ontario hospitals compared to the other provinces. Even on a Canada-wide basis, there was 5.32 hours more nursing care per patient than in Ontario in 2010-11 (year end March 31). That sounds kind of shocking. But it looks
Continue readingAuthor: Doug Allan
Defending Public Healthcare: Hospital costs lower in Ontario
The “cost per weighted case” in Ontario hospitals in 2010-11 was $5,143, according to a new report from CIHI. (This indicator measures the relative cost-efficiency of a hospital’s ability to provide acute inpatient care.) The Ontario cost per weighted case compares with a Canada-wide average of $5,230.96. In other words, the Canada-wide
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Private sector settlements 2.1% more than public sector
The Ontario government’s report on collective bargaining agreements came out yesterday for the month of January. Naturally it included the “agreements” for school board employees. It also included settlements in other parts of the public sector. Although not imposed, annual wage settlements in these other parts of the public sector
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: MRSA and C. Difficile rates fall (but not here)
A new report from the Chief Medical Officer of Health in England reports that “rates of C. difficile have fallen consistently in all English regions in recent years. MRSA has fallen markedly and is now very low in many areas.” As noted in November, there is no evidence of that in Ontario, as
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: It’s OK to close hospital beds
Aside from the predictable (but fun) response from Deb Matthews to yesterday’s Ontario Health Coalition report outlining cuts in Ontario hospitals (“It is OK” to close hospital beds, she opined), we did get a snippet or two of information from the government. The Star reports the Health Minister’s office also made these claims:
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Contracting out costs soar 26% per year
Contracting out of medical transcription work is becoming more common in Ontario hospitals. So it is noteworthy that our sister union in BC, the Hospital Employees Union, reports today that “the cost of outsourcing medical transcription services in the Lower Mainland has increased by an average of 26 per cent a year
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Ontario cuts cataract surgeries by 10%
The North Bay Nugget reports that the government cut cataract surgeries by 10% across the province this year. This reportedly has forced the North Bay Regional Health Centre to stop such surgeries until April 1 (the beginning of the fiscal year). Another recent report indicates that the Hotel Dieu in Kingston is
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Private clinic deal ends badly while Ontario inks up more
Health Edition reports that the Quebec Health Minister has decided not to renew the contract with RocklandMD, the private hospital that has done about 9,000 publicly funded surgeries since 2008 in Quebec. The contract expires September 2014. While the private clinics have tried to edge into the business via simpler
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes from the Liberals on bargaining and health
The Throne Speech from the new Liberal government of Kathleen Wynne sticks fairly close to previous Liberal policy. But it does make a few noteworthy new turns. With the past Liberal government, the claim was they would expand home care. The problem was their expansion was more imaginary than real
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Homecare funding falls short – of even aging cost pressures?
The Ontario government likes to suggest that the planned annual 4% nominal increase in “home and community care” funding will offset their cuts to hospital services and squeeze on long term care beds. But it’s not totally clear that this funding will offset cost pressures on home and community care
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Hospital cuts in 1.7% to 2.7% range
More hospital savings. Joanna Frketich reports Hamilton Health Sciences needs to find $20 million to $25 million in savings, while Hamilton St. Joseph’s is cutting $10 million to $12 million, and Burlington’s Joseph Brant must cut $4 million. In total, $34 to $41 million in cuts for Hamilton area hospitals.
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Attack on free collective bargaining political, not fiscal
In December, it was predicted that outgoing finance minister Dwight Duncan would reduce his deficit forecast just before his departure (for Bay Street). Duncan had somehow estimated in his fall economic statement that the 2012-3 deficit would be $14.4 billion, i.e. higher than the 2011-12 deficit — and even higher than
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: It’s raining cuts
Premier designate Kathleen Wynne has strongly suggested that hospital cutbacks will continue Of the cuts just announced at the Ottawa Hospital, Wynne says the government is “transforming the health-care system, so services that need to be delivered in a hospital setting are delivered in a hospital setting, but services that don’t are
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Seniors recommendations head off in wrong direction
The government’s new senior’s “action plan” discussed in the last post follows on from Dr. Samir K. Sinha’s report for the government “Living Longer Living Well”. Sinha’s report is labelled only as “Highlights and Key Recommendations”. A “full report will present considerably more detailed findings and recommendations that will
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: A tiny response to growing elder needs
The Ontario government’s 26 page Action Plan for Seniors came out yesterday. There’s not much to it. About half of the report simply rehashes what is already in place. To the good, they at least formally recognize that the elderly population is expanding rapidly and that this is going to require
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Health Care funding in Ontario
As promised at the OCHU bargaining conference last week, click here for the presentation on health care and hospital funding.
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Major decline in nursing in Ontario hospitals
There was a sharp reduction in the number of Registered Nurses (RNs) working in Ontario hospitals in 2011, with a cut of 2,750 RNs to 58,699 according to new CIHI data. That’s a 4.47% decrease in one year. Community health numbers also took a very hard hit, while numbers were up very
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Admitting the price of privatization (when it all goes bad)
ORNGE providing a vital service. Photo: Jason Edward Scott Bain The Globe and Mail kindly lobbed a few questions for the disgraced, former boss of ORNGE, Chris Mazza to swat away. His responses, published in this weekend’s edition, suggest the government was fully onside with his vision — until the fur
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: Public sector employment still lags in Ontario
There has been a lot of claims about how the McGuinty Liberal government has bolstered teachers and other public sector workers. And in fact they did increase the percent of public sector workers as a percent of total employment. Public sector employment in Ontario as percent of total employment. Calculated
Continue readingDefending Public Healthcare: The future for long-term care looks grim: Mass privatization
As with hospital beds, the government and other proponents of the near freeze in new long-term care beds suggest that home care can take up the slack. Does this stand up? Well, let’s take even a very aggressive version of this theory. Say that 25% of all people in LTC
Continue reading