joe posts

In a previous blog entry, Ontario Liberals to Ignore Hospital Crunch, I quoted a Toronto Star story in which Ontario’s health minister, George Smitherman, denied that hospitals would be forced to cut back on staff and services as a result of the budgetary requirements laid out by the Ontario government. “What is a cut?” he asked. He explained that he didn’t believe there could be any service degradation as a result of the budget: “Let’s just say that in every year, there are these dire predictions made about hospitals being in deficit circumstances and usually, that storyline doesn’t carry through the year.” At the time I thought it sounded like he was willing to play games with people’s health and people’s careers. And it looks like the game has begun:

Up to 220 jobs will be eliminated to staunch a sea of red ink at Ajax and Pickering hospital and Scarborough’s Centenary but it could be just the beginning as Ontario hospitals struggle to balance their books.

The cuts at the hospitals, both part of the Rouge Valley Health System, include 72 registered nursing positions and 36 beds as part of a deficit elimination plan expected to save about $25 million over the next three years.

“They are going to make us work harder and faster,” said Ontario Nurses’ Association president Linda Haslam-Stroud, noting Rouge Valley plans to maintain its two emergency departments, key services and patient volume. – Toronto Star

If George Smitherman was looking for a game of chicken, he certainly found it.  Are we seriously going to start cutting nursing staff in Ontario? Maybe I was smarter than I thought to give up on that particular career! I have a hard time believing that any Ontario hospital could lose 72 RNs and carry on like nothing had happened. Blech. Scary thing is that most hospitals aren’t as transparent as the Rouge Valley hospitals here.