Non-ambulance corporations to take over more EMS work?
The Minister of Health and LTC has strongly endorsed the restructuring of patient transfer industry in the South West LHIN. This may set a new model for the private corporations…
onpoli
Doctors get lion’s share of Budget funding
Forget all the government Budget rhetoric about better home care. The real winners are the docs. The Ontario Budget Estimates are out and the line item primarily covering the doctors…
Government: "collective bargaining is achieving results & protecting services"
Yesterday I noted that the Liberal Budget plainly states that they are planning many more years of austerity. So how does it see collective bargaining with public employees? And, moreover,…
Health care spending continues decline
Contrary to the hysteria from conservatives, health care spending continues to decline as a percentage of the provincial budget. Last year, health care accounted for 38.5% of total expenditures, this…
Ontario Finance Minister plans cuts in public services
The Ontario government just lopped another $2.1 billion off their 2012-13 deficit estimate, cutting it from $11.9 billion (as of January) to $9.8 billion. This means that since 2010 when…
Chemo fiasco – – the real perils of secrecy
Martin Regg Cohn, Queen’s Park columnist for the Toronto Star, expressed his outrage at some length today over the College of Pharmacists not answering media questions quickly enough about the…
Too many public sector workers in Ontario?
Opponents of public services often try to portray the public sector as having grown disproportionately. In fact, since 1976, the size of the number of public sector employees has not…
Less nursing, more medical errors
Recent Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) data indicates that Ontario has a relatively high number of “nursing-sensitive adverse events” compared to other provinces. An “adverse event” (or “medical error”)…
Canadian lobbyists. Who They Are and What They Do.
When the federal Lobbying Act came into force in 2008, Vic Toews, then the President of the Treasury Board, declared the legislation “increased accountability in Ottawa” and provided “a more…
Ontario homes:1 hour less care per elder per day
The death of a resident at a Toronto long-term care facility, allegedly at the hands of another resident, has raised concerns about inadequate staffing levels in Ontario. Recent Statistics Canada…
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…
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…
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),…
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,…