One Eastern Ontario ER closed overnights this weekend as Premier says 'everything on the table' to fix system
Emergency departments across the province have either shut down or reduced hours this summer because of a severe shortage of nurses.
The impact felt in rural areas like Alexandria, Ont., where Glengarry Memorial Hospital temporarily closes its emergency department overnights on weekends until Aug. 22.
"When we look at the weekend staffing, most of the challenges we were seeing were in the emergency and inability to staff overnight hours with any nurses," said Glengarry Memorial Hospital President Robert Alldred-Hughes.
The Montfort Hospital closed its emergency department overnights last weekend due to a staffing shortage, but plans to be open 24-hours a day this weekend.
"The fact the Montfort closed that should be a wake up call. That’s a city hospital with a busy ER," said Rachel Muir a registered nurse at Ottawa Hospital and the local bargaining unit president for Ontario Nurses’ Association. "They are not listening to us. If they were they would have started by showing us respect and recognizing the value of what health care workers have in the system."
Like several advocates, Muir wants the province to repeal Bill 124, a bill that provides nurses with just a one-per-cent wage increase.
This comes after Ontario Premier Doug Ford said, "Everything is on the table" when reporters pressed him to declare where he stood on privatizing health care.
"Every single doc, every single nurse, every CEO I talk to says two things: it’s not a money issue, we have to do things differently," Ford said Friday.
The premier said no matter what the solutions, he won’t do anything without consulting health experts.
"There's one thing we'll guarantee: you'll always be covered by OHIP, not the credit card," Ford said. "Are we going to get creative? Absolutely."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
Humanist group threatening to sue Vancouver over council prayers
The B.C. Humanist Association has threatened legal action against the City of Vancouver for allowing prayers at council, following a similar warning issued earlier this month to a smaller community on Vancouver Island.
LHSC performs a Canadian first in robot-assisted direct lateral spine surgery
Spine surgery may never be the same for people with chronic back pain and other physical ailments.