The call to action from the Ontario Hospital Association should set off alarm bells for Ontario residents.
The OHA is calling for an across the board funding increase of 4.55 per cent immediately to deal with overcrowding and substandard care in Ontario hospitals.
If you or a loved one have spent any time in hospital lately, you don’t need to be told that the government needs to act.
Many hospitals, including St. Joseph’s here in Hamilton, are constantly over capacity.
Wait times are still an issue and staffing levels have been cut which is having an effect on the standard of care.
In fact, Ontario’s health spending per person is the third lowest in Canada, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
The government will tell us that they have increased hospital funding and technically, they have offered slightly higher funding after years of belt tightening, but a walk through the corridors of many of our hospitals will make it obvious that it’s not enough.
It really comes down to an issue of government priorities.
This government has made bold and expensive commitments to things like public transportation and energy renewal over the years, but our once ‘gold standard’ health care system is tired and in need of a transfusion, and the sooner, the better.
Bill Kelly is the host of the Bill Kelly Show on Global News Radio 900 CHML.