Nursing cuts hurting Sault patients, NDP claims

NEWS RELEASE

NEWS DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF ONTARIO

************************* Deep province-wide cuts tell real story on premier’s commitment to health care: Horwath

QUEEN'S PARK - The elimination of more than 2,000 Ontario nursing positions in a single year paints a clear picture of Dalton McGuinty’s commitment to health care in communities like Sault Ste. Marie, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said today.

“We need our hospitals to be ready for the challenges of the future. Instead, the government is making reckless cuts that hurt patients,” Horwath said. “2,045 nursing jobs were slashed in just 12 months. Ontarians want to know why their health care ranks dead last on the premier’s priority list.”

A new report from the Ontario Nurses Association shows that nursing jobs have been cut in every corner of the province.

In the past year alone, more than four million hours of nursing care have been eliminated, the report shows.

Today in Question Period, the NDP Leader reminded the government that families in Sault Ste. Marie are seeing cuts to their hospital's intensive care and surgery units.

Horwath noted front-line cuts to health care are having a direct impact on Ontario families in a long and growing list of communities.

“From Sault Ste. Marie to downtown Toronto, health care in Ontario is fast deteriorating under Dalton McGuinty’s watch,” Horwath said.

“This government’s health-care crisis has grown too big to hide. The premier needs to stop denying he has a problem and start listening to Ontarians who have been left to suffer.”

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