Health-care system 'beyond crisis' Ottawa nurse says, as premier touts spending

Ontario Premier Doug Ford was grilled on the province’s health-care situation Wednesday but offered no new plan in his first comments on the issue in weeks.

"Make no mistake about it, there’s a logjam but 90 per cent of the patients are getting taken care of when they're going into the hospital. Surgeries are at 90 per cent. Can we do better? 100 per cent. I'm a strong believer in continuous improvement, investment and that's exactly what we’re doing," Ford said.

This comes as a new study finds nearly seven in 10 nurses say they're unable to provide adequate patient care due to a lack of available time and resources, and nearly one in two registered practical nurses are considering leaving the profession for good.

"We are beyond crisis now and we need some serious short-term measures to prevent our health-care system from collapsing completely," said Rachel Muir, a nurse at the civic campus of the Ottawa hospital.

There’s a new call to action in Alexandria where the Glengarry Memorial Hospital’s emergency department will continue to have reduced overnight hours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until at least August 22 because of a staffing shortage.

The hospital’s president and CEO says it is actively recruiting for a number of jobs.

"It's a fantastic place to live and we have wonderful opportunities on our website for nursing and other allied health professions so I’d encourage anybody that fits the bill to check us out and help us reopen our emergency department fully," said Robert Alldred-Hughes.

On Wednesday, Ford touted billions on health-care spending and says hiring more nurses is key.

"Our problem is retaining those nurses because the situation on the units that they go into is untenable, they’re doing overtime, there’s no support for them because the senior nurses have left," said Muir.

As for repealing Bill 124, whiich caps the salary increase for nurses and other health-care workers at 1 per cent, Ford says it's up to the hospitals to negotiate fairly.

Muir said repealing the bill is just the start.

"Show them the respect and they will start to stay."