Dalton & Dave blamed for 'crisis' at Sault Area Hospital

NEWS RELEASE

NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF ONTARIO

********************** Time for McGuinty government to provide answers on Sault Area Hospital and health care crisis

SAULT STE. MARIE - NDP Leader Howard Hampton says Dalton McGuinty owes the people of Sault Ste. Marie some real health care answers.

"The McGuinty government's hospital budget restraints forced the Sault Area Hospital into a $3-million deficit last year. There has been a series of troubling physician and management resignations at the hospital over the last two years. Thousands of Sault Ste. Marie area residents have no family doctor," Hampton said.

"There is a health care crisis in the Sault Ste. Marie. The people of Sault Ste. Marie should ask some tough questions and get some real health care answers from Dalton McGuinty - the premier who promised to make health care better, not worse," he said.

Hampton made the comments at a press conference in Sault Ste. Marie today.

Joining Hampton was Sault Ste. Marie MP Tony Martin, who blew the whistle on troubling Sault Ste. Marie health-care problems.

Hampton cited a number of questions where he believes Sault Ste. Marie residents need to get answers from the McGuinty government.

"When the hospital CEO resigns, three different medical chiefs of staff resign over two years and hospital workers talk of 'burnout' and 'workload crisis' you have to ask yourself, how long can the hospital function in this way without hurting patient care?" the NDP leader asked.

A privately-financed, profit-driven hospital will only make a bad situation worse because it will divert health care dollars to corporate profits, Hampton said.

"Dalton McGuinty says his scheme for a profit-driven privately-financed hospital will solve the Sault Ste. Marie health care and hospital crisis. But in England, private money hospitals have not been the answer at all. In most cases, they have simply created other health care problems," Hampton said.

"Dalton McGuinty should show he's on the side of Sault Ste. Marie residents and clean up the health care mess he has created in Sault Ste. Marie. What's more, he should build a first-class publicly-financed hospital to serve the people of this community without delay," he said.

Six health care questions McGuinty needs to answer

1) McGuinty government hospital budget cuts and restraint have left the Sault Area Hospital with a $3-million deficit this past year. What is the McGuinty government going to do to help address this situation? Order more bed closures? Cut more health care services?

2) Thousands of Sault Ste. Marie area residents have no family doctor. Will a local health care crisis make this bad situation worse? Will it mean more doctors leaving the community? Will it make recruitment more difficult? What is the McGuinty government’s plan to address such a possibility - more temporary locum doctors?

3) The Sault Area Hospital CEO has resigned. There have been three different medical chiefs of staff at the hospital over the last two years. Two medical director positions are vacant. There are strong indications others may also come vacant. Health care workers at the hospital speak of "burnout" and "workload crisis." How long can the Sault Area Hospital function this way without the quality of patient care being hurt?

4) Doctor shortages are forcing many people to visit the Sault Area Hospital's emergency room, putting the pinch on the cash-strapped facility. What is the McGuinty government's plan to address this problem?

5) How will the McGuinty government's plan to build a profit-driven, privately-financed hospital that diverts health care dollars to corporate profits improve this bad situation? Why not build a first-class, publicly-financed Sault Ste. Marie hospital without delay - to guarantee health care dollars go to patients?

6) In many profit-driven privately funded hospitals constructed in Britain corners were cut in hospital construction in order to reduce costs for the profit-driven, private corporation. This "cornercutting" resulted in serious health care delivery problems for the hospital physicians and staff.

The McGuinty Government scheme for a profit driven, private finance hospital in Sault Ste. Marie should be far enough along in the planning process for hospital physicians, hospital staff and the general public to examine the plans. Particular questions are really important:

- is the emergency department properly situated and properly configured so as to meet the heavy need, a need that is likely to increase given the shortage of family doctors in the Sault - will most hospital patient rooms have two beds or four beds? What is the ratio?

- is there sufficient space planned for Intensive Care? Cardiac Care?

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