Lobby group takes aim at hospital cuts

The Ontario government is being accused of taking an axe to healthcare services across the province, and not tell the public what’s really going on.

A group called the Ontario Health Coalition released a report today on the way they see health care in the province right now. They’re made up of unions, community activists and health groups. They say the McGuinty government’s austerity budgets are creating unprecedented cuts in health services available to people.

The coalition is setting hospital budgets at zero – meaning no increase in the money they have to spend. Some are actually being cut to less than zero. And they say the result is more than 100 hospital beds that will be closed, operating rooms are being cut, there are fewer hospital staff to look after patients, and people are waiting longer for services that they might not even be able to get.

Natalie Mehra of the OHC says “we really are seeing now unprecedented cuts to actual care services despite the rhetoric of the health minister that there are no real cuts happening, that these are, this is system transformation these are trade offs and servies are being moved into home care. You know, in truth we have put together an index of cuts all across Ontario that are actual service cuts.”

Rick Janson of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union says the cuts will hit patients in the wallet.

“When the hospitals are divesting these services this basically means the end of medicare for a lot of people. It means you have to pay out of pocket to access these services.”

For example, they say funding is being cut by $25 million for hospitals in Hamilton, and by $1 million in Burlington.

Video: Al Sweeney reports: