Nursing levels low and getting lower
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…
Doug Allan
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…
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…
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…
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),…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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,…
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…
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…
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.
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…
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…
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…
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…