Liberals’ first balanced budget in a decade aims to please
Ontario’s health-care focused budget will give struggling hospitals a boost, but it won’t solve the ongoing crisis that has seen patients cared for on stretchers in hallways in recent months.
Tom Schonberg, president and CEO of Queensway Carleton Hospital, said Thursday the $518 million allocated for hospital operating costs will likely translate to about a two-per-cent increase, or a little more, per hospital, with the remainder going to targeted programs. The Ontario Hospital Association had sought a five-per-cent increase to help ease overcrowding pressures.
Given salary increases and inflation, Schonberg said, the additional money will keep his hospital from losing ground, but is unlikely to do much to improve its situation.
“Definitely it is a step in the right direction,” he said. “The two per cent very much helps to stabilize operating at least at where we are at right now … not guaranteeing it.”
Queensway Carleton, like other hospitals, continues to be over capacity. Schonberg said money is needed for long-term-care funding to help move so-called alternate-level-of-care patients out of hospital beds into more appropriate care.
Meanwhile, officials at CHEO and The Ottawa Hospital said they looked forward to the new pharmacare plan for young Ontarians under the age of 25.
“Canada is the only country with universal health coverage that does not also have universal coverage of prescription drugs,” said chief executive for CHEO and OCTC, Alex Munter. “Now, at last, all Ontario kids will be covered,” he added.
CHEO’s chief of staff, Dr. Lindy Samson, said she has seen young patients unable to get the medicine they need to get better. “This sometimes means having to stay in hospital longer than needed. No one should have to choose between buying drugs and paying for other essentials, especially when a child’s well-being is in the balance,” she added.
The plan will especially help vulnerable and lower-income families and youth who may not have coverage through other means, CHEO said.
The Ottawa Hospital’s CEO, Dr. Jack Kitts, said the budget “appears to be a very good budget for health care in Ontario.”
Ottawa and Eastern Ontario hospitals have struggled with overcrowding for months.
The Ottawa Hospital, which was at 108 per cent of capacity Thursday and has remained above 100 per cent for most of the past year, has turned offices and waiting rooms into temporary patient rooms in recent months in an effort to accommodate patients.
The problem has been felt across the province with reports of patients spending days in hallways and hospitals straining at the seams.
Cornwall Community Hospital has had among the highest occupancy rates in the province, as high as 138 per cent earlier this year.
A common issue for hospitals has been so-called ALC (alternate level of care) patients, who no longer require an acute care bed but are either unable to return home or have no suitable alternative.