Let the government of Ontario know that it’s time to end hallway medicine in Ottawa and across the province.
Hospital overcrowding in Ottawa has reached a breaking point. At the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), 15 children, including 4 infants, were transferred or turned away in February. CHEO ran at well over 100 per cent capacity in January and February, creating a situation where some of the sickest kids were transferred to other hospitals, and children with minor ailments waited eight hours for treatment.
CHEO isn’t the only hospital in Ottawa facing an overcrowding crisis. Within the first two months of 2018, the Queensway Carleton Hospital has already declared two code oranges, which means that the hospital is completely full. These are the only code oranges that the hospital has declared in its history.
Years of Liberal cuts and freezes to hospital budgets have put patients at risk, reduced front-line staff numbers, and increased wait times. Enough is enough.
It’s time to end hallway medicine for good. We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to direct the Minister of Finance to address hospital overcrowding by reversing decades of cuts to hospital care and ensuring funding keeps pace with inflation, population growth, and the unique needs of communities.