The provincial election has been called. The chances of any of the three parties having a real debate about health care is remote. When it comes to elections, talking about health care is akin to putting your head on the … Continue reading →
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OPSEU Diablogue: Transit workers spoof Wynne running ad with attack on P3 policy
Confirmation of the June 12 election is barely an hour old and the Amalgmated Transit Union Local 113 has already launched its election campaign ad. Its a spoof of Kathleen Wynne’s running commercial that highlights the dangers of public-private partnerships. The 2014 budget … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Libs say budget “platform for next 30 days” after NDP vows to pull the plug
Well that was quick. NDP Leader Andrea Horwath told the media this morning that she cannot support the Wynne budget, or more specifically, the Wynne government. Horwath’s remarks suggested it wasn’t so much about the content of yesterday’s budget, but … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: EORLA: Cornwall cuts an improvement? We want to see the evidence
Cornwall residents will not have to travel to Ottawa to have tissue samples taken in the lab. Instead just a tiny part of them will make the trip – their tissue samples. The patients can stay where they are, as … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Slow down in home care increases a surprise in 2014-15 budget
Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews has had a fairly consistent narrative of late – health services should be delivered closer to home, or more specifically, in the home. It’s been the justification for a lengthy freeze on hospital base budgets … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: PSW minimum wage hike not the end of the story
Deb Matthews promised and delivered – sort of. The Ontario Health Minister had committed earlier this year to revisit compensation for personal support workers. Minimum wage for PSWs had not changed since 2006. This she has done – announcing yesterday … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: CAMH asks staff to mail patients’ cigarettes back home
Ah, Rosie. Toronto Star columnist Rosie DiManno recently used her shotgun style prose to take the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) to school. While addiction is part of CAMH’s mandate, not everyone who seeks help there has arrived … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: 2014 budget: If your hospital is not already on the rebuild list, it won’t be
When Charles Sousa unwraps his Ontario budget on Thursday there likely won’t be any new money for expanding hospital infrastructure. Coming out of the Harris era, the McGuinty/Wynne government faced a considerable backlog of infrastructure needs, including updates to many … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Why the CN tower will be yellow tonight
Each year more Ontarians lose their lives through their job than by criminal homicide. It’s a sobering thought. In 2012 the WSIB reported 254 workplace-related fatalities and more than 140,000 injuries in Ontario. Of those 254 deaths, 64 were traumatic … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Big-pharma backed patient groups attack bill banning paid blood and plasma collection
The current debate over paid plasma donation has brought out a number of patient groups – including those funded by big-pharma – that are suggesting Canada has no choice but to pay for plasma donation owing to a world-wide shortage. … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Will Act banning paid blood and plasma collection die in committee?
All the election talk raises the question of whether the opposition parties will pull the plug on the present minority government before passage of a bill that will ban paid plasma collection in the province. The Voluntary Blood Donations Act … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Ontario slow to address meager recommendations in healthy kids strategy
Last March the Health Kids Panel made a series of recommendations around tackling child obesity including investing $80 million per year in new funding. That’s only $5.87 per person to tackle a problem that is said to cost Ontarians $4.5 … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Enough already – Stop public funding to Mike Harris’ pet institute
Kathleen Wynne should say enough is enough. Why is the Harris-era Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity still receiving nearly $1 million a year in public funding to manipulate the public towards some of the most ludicrous right wing ideas? Earlier … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Tommy Douglas never said health care would be free — advisor to Premier
Is Roger Martin having us on? This morning the publicly funded Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity released a working paper on policy opportunities for Ontario’s health care system during Longwood’s Breakfast With The Chiefs speaker series. Roger Martin, the former … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Providence Care expresses regret over memorial but fails to make it right
At a point you’d think somebody would stop and ask a few questions. Last week we reported on how Kingston’s Providence Care cut down the trees and removed the plaques associated with a 25-year-old memorial garden to former staff who … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Seeking Solutions: June mental health meeting to take 360 degree look at violence and workplace safety
OPSEU’s Mental Health Division is bringing together experts from across the province to take a 360 degree look at the issue of violence and workplace safety. Scheduled for June 17-18 in Toronto, this two-day event is intended to start a … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: We won’t have Medicare II without federal leadership — Himelfarb
Alex Himelfarb understands the 2004 10-year health accord better than most. At the time it was negotiated, he was the highest ranking civil servant in Ottawa. The $41.3 billion Accord was supposed to fix health care for a generation. It would … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Significant risks face Ontario’s plan to shift hospital services to private clinics
Dr. Danielle Martin looks uncomfortable discussing the government’s recent plan to move hospital services into so-called specialty clinics. On the one hand the VP of Toronto’s Women’s College Hospital sees patients every day who she believes could be better served … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Briefs: New Providence CEO heavily rewarded before jumping ship from CCAC
The Toronto Star’s Bob Hepburn is certainly raising a storm over the rewards the province’s 14 Community Care Access Centres have been bestowing on their CEOs during a period of intense provincial austerity. The Auditor General of Ontario is now … Continue reading →
Continue readingOPSEU Diablogue: Will advanced IT be the saviour of Ontario hospitals?
The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) has a simple vision: better data, better decisions, healthier Canadians. It does appear at times that we are drowning in data, raising the question of how accurate and timely it is, how it … Continue reading →
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