By Staff
January 5th, 2024
BURLINGTON, ON
NDP urges Conservatives to stop withholding billions from health care
Longer wait times for diagnosis and surgery are a result of a system stretched by chronic government underfunding.
Ontario NDP Health critic France Gélinas said Ontario is hearing another alarm bell from the province’s overrun health care system, a new Ontario Health report that shows that just over half of the most aggressive cancers were treated through surgery in the recommended time frame. She is urging the Ford government to act.
“This troubling report from Ontario Health makes clear that the staffing crisis in our health care system is having a direct impact on patient outcomes, on matters of life and death,” Gélinas said. “Early detection and timely access to surgery is vital for those diagnosed with cancer, especially aggressive forms.
“Longer wait times for diagnosis and surgery are a result of a system stretched by chronic government underfunding and the exodus of overworked, underpaid workers, yet the Ford Conservatives continue to act like the crisis doesn’t exist.
“We have the money to fix the problem. The government is sitting on billions of dollars—$5.4 billion, to be precise—of unspent funds that should be going to our hospitals. Ford must treat the crisis with the urgency it warrants and stop withholding billions from health care.”
I happened to be in the radiology/imaging department at Joe Brant and was surprised to see it pretty much empty. Even the Tim Horton’s was pretty quiet.
I can speak from personal experience. Joseph Brant Hospital definitely has some issues, but when it comes to screening, scans and surgery for patients with cancer this is not the case.
We can be grateful that in Burlington patients are seen and treated in a timely manner when cancer is the diagnosis.
Why would he be Concerned? If he or anyone close to him gets cancer, they go straight to the front of the line by paying privately. The taxpayers can wait!