Ontario NDP outline plan to fix Hamilton’s healthcare system

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles and Hamilton East-Stoney Creek candidate Monique Taylor announced a plan to deliver faster and better health care for Hamiltonians.

On Thursday, Stiles and Taylor were joined by Hamilton Centre MPP and family physician Dr. Robin Lennox.

“Our promise to the people of Hamilton is simple: better care, without the wait,” Stiles says.

“Seeing a family doctor when you need one and getting quick care at the emergency room are not luxuries, they are basic services that Hamiltonians should be able to rely on.”

“Under Doug Ford’s watch, ER wait times have increased to an average of 19 hours at the Hamilton Health Sciences. Doug Ford’s disastrous plan is ignoring Hamiltonians and putting their health at risk. Enough is enough,” she says.

Stiles says their plan focuses on connecting Hamiltonians to primary care providers, hiring more doctors and nurses and adding more beds to hospitals.

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“Monique is the only candidate in this race with a proven record of taking the fight to Ford and winning. By sending Monique Taylor back to Queen’s Park, Hamilton East-Stoney Creek will be sending Doug Ford a message he won’t be able to ignore,” Stiles says.

“Families and seniors in Hamilton East-Stoney Creek shouldn’t have to wait months for primary care. For the past eight years, Doug Ford has ignored Hamiltonians and their healthcare needs. Marit Stiles and the Ontario NDP have a plan to deliver the care Hamiltonians need when they need it,” Taylor says.

The plan will also include better health care for city residents including hiring more doctors and nurses to ensure safe staffing ratios and ending hallway healthcare by adding more beds to our hospitals.

“As a family physician, I’ve seen first-hand how Premier Ford’s disdain for public healthcare has affected patients: long wait-times to see specialists, family doctors burned out and planning early retirement, and patients lined up on hallway stretchers in every hospital,” Lennox says.

“It’s time we invest our resources where it counts, so we can provide the best possible care to patients and build sustainable health systems. The Ontario NDP plan to fix our hospitals and transform primary care is the thoughtful, responsible health strategy we need to restore and expand our public healthcare system”

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