NEWS RELEASE
GILLES BISSON, MPP TIMMINS-JAMES BAY
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QUEEN’S PARK - Today, Timmins—James Bay NDP MPP Gilles Bisson called on the Liberal government to finally address hospital overcrowding in Timmins so that children and families can access the care they deserve at home in Northern Ontario.
“Last week in Timmins, a 16-year-old boy with mental health needs had to be treated in the emergency ward because there were no beds in that hospital to treat him,” said Bisson.
“This morning, we hear that there are eight new beds being announced in the city of Timmins, but that’s cold comfort to patients who are continually having to be treated in the same way, getting hallway medicine rather than getting the beds that they need to be treated. No one, especially not a 16-year-old with so much life ahead of them, should suffer in today’s Ontario because of the lack of access to proper health care.”
Hospital overcrowding has reached crisis levels throughout Ontario. New Democrats have called on the Wynne government to undo the damage it has done in freezing and underfunding hospitals and forcing institutions to operate well above a safe capacity.
Bisson noted that funding for eight hospital beds in Timmins shows that the Liberals are finally bending to pressure from families and New Democrats but ultimately, this action is too little too late from a Liberal government that has let down families throughout the province.
“I will tell you it’s not good news when a government refuses to do something and only reacts when there’s a crisis,” said Bisson. “Only when our leader stands in this house asking question after question, members of this caucus, people across Ontario, hospital CEOs and others who have been saying for years, saying ‘you have underfunded the hospital system’. So now because there’s an election coming this spring, you’re finally doing something and announcing beds in Timmins—of course we’re going to take them.”
“When will this government admit that they’re not doing enough to deal with this problem?” asked Bisson.
New Democrats are committed to properly funding Ontario hospitals with a guarantee that hospital funding will always keep up with inflation, population growth, and the unique health needs of each community, each year.
New Democrats would also implement a moratorium on layoffs of nurses and frontline care providers, and introduced a plan to create Ontario’s first universal pharmacare program.
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