Hospital union says dealing with hallway medicine, at odds with Ontario government’s fiscal promises

There’s a warning from the hospital division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) that the public health system cannot sustain any further cuts and address the issue of “hallway medicine.”

The Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) has released a report called, “Hallway Medicine: It Can Be Fixed,” as it draws attention to what it says is a “contradiction” in promises made by Ontario’s new government.

OCHU/CUPE president Michael Hurley says they’ve crunched the numbers and have concluded that the Progressive Conservatives can’t achieve a promise to address Ontario’s hospital bed shortage while also cutting public sector spending by four per cent.

Hurley adds that their report predicts the loss of up to 201 beds and 1,144 hospital employees in Hamilton alone, if the Doug Ford government achieves its promised tax cuts, public sector “efficiencies” and balanced budgets.

Hurley says the union is urging the government to address its “moral obligation” to end “hallway medicine,” where patients spend days on stretchers in hallways waiting for admission to hospital.

He notes that the system “can’t sustain further cuts,” is already suffering from a “lack of capacity” and “not reflective of a health-care system that is meeting its obligations.”