THUNDER BAY – NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says her government will immediately implement a moratorium on cuts to hospital budgets to help end overcrowding at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.
Flanked by local candidates Lise Vaugeois and John Rafferty outside the hospital, Horwath on Monday said a decade of cuts and budget freezes has caused a huge crisis in the hospital system across Ontario.
People deserve quality health care delivered quickly, she said, which isn’t happening in many communities across the province, especially in Ontario’s north.
The health-care horror stories have to stop, Horwath said.
“People are in hallways for days on end with bright lights, with people moving back and forth. Other stretchers bang into (them) as they’re on their way to different parts of the hospital,” she said.
“There’s a complete lack of privacy. People should be able to have care in hospitals where their own personal health-care situation doesn’t become the topic of conversation amongst everybody else that’s lying around in the hallways on stretchers.
Horwatch, in full-on election mode, acknowledged there is a serious alternative level of care problem in the province and promised to help alleviate the problem.
She blamed the governing Liberals, in power since 2003, for not having the foresight to plan for an aging population.
Thunder Bay Regional is in near constant gridlock, crossing the threshold 90 per cent of the time between April 1 and Aug. 31, a 20 per cent increase over the same period a year earlier.
“The Liberals have been in office for 14 years. They’ve done nothing to prepare us for the growing, aging population in this province,” Horwath said.
“So yes, New Democrats will be looking at not only long-term care, but making sure we have a home-care system that’s functional and that can actually help people stay at home with dignity and the quality of care they deserve.”
Asked where she’ll get the money to pay for more health-care services, Horwath suggested both the Liberals and Conservatives have been wasteful with government coffers, noting that efficiencies can be found to cover the costs.
Vaugeois said she’s seen far too many long waits at the local emergency department not to act.
“Once people get in, they get good care. They have wonderful staff here,” she said. “But the wait times are far too long and both Liberal and Conservatives governments have consistently made a point to cut from the core health services.”
The election is scheduled for June 7.
