hospitals

Friday December 15, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday December 15, 2017

Overcrowded Ontario hospitals ‘on the brink,’ province warned

Overcrowding at Ontario hospitals has become so serious that the sector is “on the brink” of a “crisis,” warns its umbrella organization, using uncharacteristically alarming language.

Leaders from the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) plan to go to Queen’s Park to plead their case for more funding on Thursday. They are seeking a 4.55 per cent increase in operating funding for 2018-19, according to their prebudget submission, an advanced copy of which has been obtained by the Star.

That amounts to an extra $815 million and would bring the sector’s total operating allocation for the next fiscal year to about $18.8 billion.

The organization’s submission to the province’s finance committee is titled “A Sector on the Brink: The Case for a Significant investment in Ontario’s Hospitals.” It states that patient occupancy at about half of the province’s 143 hospital corporations exceeded 100 per cent this past summer, normally a slower time of year for the sector. Occupancy at some hospitals was as high as 140 per cent while the international standard for safe occupancy is 85 per cent.

A section of the seven-page submission highlights the “warning signs of an imminent capacity crisis.” Among them: growing wait times, higher emergency department volumes, and infrastructure and equipment that is “run down, at the end of their life, or outdated.”

States the document: “Emergency departments, for example, are a critical barometer for how the health care system is functioning — and the warning alarm is sounding loudly.”

When wait times for the month of September are compared for the last seven years, they hit their highest level this year for patients admitted to hospitals through emergency departments. Ten per cent of patients waited about 32 hours before being moved to in-patient beds. (Source: Toronto Star) 

Saturday August 5, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday August 5, 2017

This health-care crisis is growing

Hospitals — running over budget, operating beds they don’t have funding for. Emergency rooms — patients stacked up in hallways. Acute care beds — too many blocked, occupied by people waiting to leave hospital but with no place to go. Ambulances — stretched to the limit, often not available at all.

December 21, 2016

It’s an old story. One we would rather not argue about again. But here’s the problem. Things are not getting better, they’re getting worse. And so this old story appears here yet again in hopes it will take on a new sense of urgency.

Hamilton Health Sciences needs to cut $20 million from its budget, St. Joseph’s Healthcare $7 million. In both cases, staffing will be affected, stretching already thin human resources even thinner. Executive staff are being cut as well as front line. In the case of HHS, three senior executives are leaving. And that’s at a hospital system that already spends below the provincial average on administration, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information. HHS spends 4.9 per cent on administration, higher than the national average of 4.3 per cent but well below the provincial average of 5.6 per cent. Keep that in mind next time someone declares hospitals would be fine if only they cut senior management costs. 

May 10, 2016

Hospitals have seen provincial funding cut repeatedly. The province provided some relief this year with a two per cent increase. That doesn’t even cover inflation.

That’s why it’s so frustrating when Health Minister Eric Hoskins says he doesn’t expect funding to impact patient care. What world do Hoskins and other politicians live in? It’s already affecting patient care. In Ontario, you’re not supposed to spend 48 hours on a bed in a hallway awaiting admission. You shouldn’t expect to wait double-digit hours in the ER. You shouldn’t expect to be told there’s no acute care bed for a sick relative. You shouldn’t expect years-long waiting lists for aging relatives waiting for long-term care. All these are happening and getting more common. (Source: Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Thursday July 3, 2014

Thursday July 3, 2014By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday July 3, 2014

Hamilton hospital parking will cost you up to $25 a day

For SaleHospital parking is up to $25 a day after both Hamilton Health Sciences and St. Joseph’s Healthcare raised their rates.

“It’s a bit rich,” said cancer patient Lionel Morton, who travels from Welland to Hamilton for treatment between two and four days a month and already thought the fees were a “ripoff.”

“They know they have a captive audience,” he says. “It’s not right.”

The price jumped by up to 25 per cent at the acute care hospitals, which are struggling with deficits and aging parking structures.

“We understand that represents hardship for some of our patients and we’re sensitive to that,” said Heather Pullen, spokesperson for HHS. “It’s a decision we make very carefully and we try not to do very often. But the cost of every aspect of our business rises all the time. … It’s a difficult choice, but it’s one we feel we have to make.”

For most of the acute care hospitals, the daily maximum is now $20 after being $15 for the last five years. Premium parking off Charlton Avenue at St. Joseph’s Hospital and the emergency lot at McMaster Children’s Hospital is $25, up from $20. The prices changed June 16 at HHS and April 1 at St. Joseph’s.

The rate for 30 minutes or less remains the same at $3.50 for the acute care hospitals.

The Canadian Medical Association Journal urged hospitals in 2011 to scrap paid parking, calling them “a user fee in disguise.”

“Parking fees are a barrier to health care and add avoidable stress to patients who have enough to deal with,” stated the editorial by Dr. Rajendra Kale, the editor-in-chief at the time.
However, the Ontario Hospital Association rejected that call, saying hospitals rely on parking for at least one per cent of their revenue.

“Every year, St. Joe’s, like many hospitals, face the continued pressure of bridging a gap between our annual funding provided by the Ministry of Health and our operating pressures like increased hydro bills or medical supplies,” said spokesperson Megan Bieksa. “One of the ways we generate revenue is through parking.”

St. Joseph’s needs to make up about $12 million to balance its $600-million budget for the fiscal year that started April 1. HHS has to find $25 million to keep its $1.2-billion budget in the black. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

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