By Staff
February 6th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Stretched to the limit: hospital union will be lining up gurneys outside Joseph Brant Hospital in Burlington at 1:00 pm today to draw attention to the healthcare crisis
The province is in the midst of a provincial election that is to take place on February 27th.
Every self-interest group is struggling to get its story out while the political parties get close to reckless on how they would spend public money.
The hospital unions are raising concerns about access to care due to growing deficits across the hospital sector. Based on latest data, hospitals in Ontario faced a cumulative shortfall of $800 million in the first half of 2024-25.
Joseph Brant Hospital operated at 94.2% capacity, well above the 85 per cent recommended maximum bed occupancy level.
At Joseph Brant Hospital the shortfall was $1.8 million. The union warns that cutbacks are already happening at numerous hospitals, including Burlington, as they buckle under the weight of growing patient volumes and insufficient funding; pointing out that per-person hospital funding in Ontario is the lowest in Canada and that we have the fewest beds and hospital staff to population.
In the first half of 2024-25, Joseph Brant Hospital operated at 94.2% capacity, well above the 85 per cent recommended maximum bed occupancy level. According to analysis by OCHU-CUPE, Joseph Brant must add 32 beds to achieve safe occupancy levels.
Michael Hurley, president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE) says it is not surprising to witness a record increase in hospital overcrowding. About 2,000 patients every day receive care on stretchers in unconventional spaces such as hallways and storage closets, an increase of 125 per cent since June 2018 when Ford got elected on the promise to end hallway health care.
Hurley says hospital overcrowding compromises patient and staff safety, causing delays in admitting patients, higher risk of nosocomial infections, and heavier workloads. Moreover, it robs patients of dignity as they are treated out in hallways without privacy.“There were 250,000 people on wait lists for surgeries last year,” Hurley says. “2,000 are on stretchers today, begging for a bed. Palliative patients die at home without painkillers. As a province, we must do so much better for our citizens.”“The next government must implement real solutions”
The union recommends the following solutions to address the healthcare crisis:
Hospital union will take empty gurneys out onto Lakeshore Road to demonstrate how bad things are at the Joseph Brant Hospital.
Improve hospital capacity to match the needs of an aging and growing population, by adding staffed hospital beds.
Address the staffing crisis by improving compensation and working conditions, and providing incentives such as free tuition to students in nursing and PSW programs
End private sector delivery of acute, long-term care and community health services
Ban agency nurses to reduce staffing costs, and invest that money in improving compensation and working conditions for in-house workers
Improving staffing in LTC to meet the 4-hours of daily care benchmark and expand capacity to reduce waitlists
End contracting out of services across health care, and run LTC and home care on a public, not-for-profit basis
Expand the use of nurse practitioners to lead primary care clinics.
Fast Facts:
- 1,860 people on stretchers in hospital hallways, up from 826 in June 2018 when the Premier promised to end hallway medicine.
- 2.5 million citizens without a family doctor
- Palliative homecare patients dying without painkillers and medical supplies
- 250,000 people waiting for surgeries
- Nearly 50,000 people waiting for long-term care
- Constant ER closures in small towns.
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My argument is that we should continue to collect Property Taxes for the maintenance of existing infrastructure while also accruing contingency funds identified with strict boundaries and limits as to how they can be spent, condominium association fees as an example; As for management and implementation, these should be handled at a regional level; anything above and beyond the base listed boundaries should be paid for with a separate Reginal tax geared to income, collected, distributed and overseen by the Province these funds should also be protected by a Provincial act.
This would take the pressure off property owners and therefore renters and would also make residents stop and think about what programs above the basics they are willing to pay for.
The Regional tax rate should also differ amongst Regions as an incentive to cut costs and eliminate duplication, I believe the silent majority just want to enjoy their homes, friends and family using individual discretionary Finances for their entertainment, not city-driven entertainment projects that bureaucrats are forever studying and re-studying then implementing programs and venues that are underused and then having to be continuingly funded by the taxpayer and having to rely on volunteers to survive.
Quote: While the condo governance model may not be perfect when it comes to Reserve Funds it may be superior to that of our municipal government model.
As for my home of 40+years, sure its value has increased and will more than likely become subject to capital gains in the near future, which I will pay from my other investment vehicles, keeping in mind that I have no indexed company pension; My Son and family live in an exclusive area of Illinois at the moment and are paying a little over the 1% but the difference is startlingly higher than what we have here, but America’s GDP is a lot higher than ours and they can afford it, and then this becomes a much more deeper discussion as to our problems. I am curious as to your generational label, my label says boomer but not the protective of my stuff kind,
In many American cities in California, homeowners pay 1% of the value of their house every year in property taxes.
Ontario is the wealthiest province in Canada. Since the Conservatives took power on Ontario they have not properly funded our health care. Ontario now spends the smallest amount on Health care per person than any other province in Canada. Ontario also has the smallest number of hospital beds per person than any other province in Canada.
The Premier hopes that by creating a crisis in our health care, we will be more likely accept his plan to privatize our health care.
Most taxpayers have no idea that Burlington taxpayers are still paying for a shortfall of $60 m that cost $80m that JBH citizen rep Marianne Meed Ward managed to convince Council, was their responsibility in terms of building a new hospital when it clearly was not. Despite questions asked we still do not know what we are still paying for up to 2026.
Out of all the taxes, property taxes are the most inequitable to homeowners and renters alike, which is everyone.
Hi David, I am interested in why you think property taxes are not equitable.
To save a lot of time, tell me why you think they are.
Cities need taxes for services- schools, police, libraries, etc.
How should we raise funds?
People who own houses have a very valuable asset that increases in value. If it is their principal residence they will not pay any capital gains on any profit.Ie it is tax free.
If I rent I may have other assets. Interest on bonds are taxed, capital gain in stocks and stock dividends are all taxed. But if course the tax on those assets goes to the province and the feds.
I talked to some rich people from California. They paid 1% of their house value every year in property taxes Ouch!