NDP has no credibility on health care, Orazietti says

NEWS RELEASE

DAVID ORAZIETTI, MPP

********************* McGuinty government providing unprecedented resources for health care in Sault Ste. Marie

Tony Martin and Howard Hampton health care legacy a disaster

Sault Ste. Marie - The McGuinty government has provided record levels of support for health care facilities and practitioners in Sault Ste. Marie since coming into office in October 2003.

The Ontario government continues to move forward with its ambitious transformation and reinvestment agenda in the health care sector, David Orazietti, MPP announced today.

"In less than three years our government has made massive investments in the health care sector in Sault Ste. Marie including; 90% funding for the new Sault Area Hospital, a new $26 million contract for the Group Health Centre, a new $2 million CT scanner and a new four-year contract with Ontario physicians," said Orazietti. "Given that Tony Martin and Howard Hampton were part of the only government in Ontario to cut medical school spaces, significantly cut funding to Ontario hospitals, and did nothing to move the construction of our new public hospital forward, they have no credibility on health care."

McGuinty government initiatives supporting health care in Sault Ste. Marie

- $3.6 million in additional operational funding for 06/07

- $2 million for a new CT Scanner at SAH

- $306,900 for a new Tele-Stroke site at SAH

- $4.7 million for home care

- $2.2 million for mental health services

- $744,500 for Vascular Research at GHC

- $25.9 million for a new Group Health Centre contract - 48 new long-term care beds in Sault Ste. Marie

- provincial funding to build new Sault Area Hospital including radiation therapy bunker, 289 beds (same as two current sites), 20 percent larger in physical space, 33 percent larger in clinical space

- new SAH includes a full range of hospital services - acute care, pediatrics, surgical care, mental health programs and a new cancer radiation therapy facility

- new increased payment plan for anesthesiologists

- Sault Area Hospital and Northern Ontario School of Medicine Agreement for local physician training

McGuinty government initiatives supporting health care province-wide:

- increased medical school spaces by 23 percent by taking the following steps

- opened Northern Ontario School of Medicine; first new medical school in 30 years with 56 new student spaces

- more than doubled the number of training spots, from 90 to 200, for International Medical Graduates

- 15 percent increase in enrollment at existing Ontario medical schools

- new four-year Ontario Medical Association contract

- 4,100 new nurses hired in Ontario since 2003

- reducing wait times for five key health care services (hip and knee joint replacement, cataract surgeries, MRI exams, cancer surgeries and cardiac procedures) with a recent investment of $222.5 million

- improved working conditions for nurses with a $60 million investment to purchase 11,000 bed lifts to help reduce on-the-job injuries

NDP's record of health care mismanagement

- one of the first governments in Canada to cut health care funding - in 1994/95 cut $268 million from hospitals

- over 8,000 beds were cut

- cut the number of medical school spaces resulting in current doctor shortage

- cut the number of foreign trained physicians allowed into Ontario for training

- unilaterally ripped up the collective agreements of 900,000 civil servants, including doctors and nurses

****************** Earlier coverage on SooToday.com

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