The issue of patient flow in Thunder Bay-area hospitals will worsen under the Conservative budget, according to a CUPE report

THUNDER BAY - The Canadian Union of Public Hospitals is predicting provincial funding cuts to Thunder Bay-area hospitals will climb to $55.3 million by 2023-24.

The union that represents public sector employees in Canada says issues of overcrowding, emergency department waiting times, and lack of transitional care unit beds will all worsen under the Conservative budget.

Although the 2019 April budget announced a one per cent increase for hospitals, Hurley says a large chunk of the increase went towards reaching a settlement with Ontario physicians. In terms of real operating cost, CUPE says the budget falls short by three per cent.

“There will be an impact in terms of a loss of beds and staff,” Hurley said, predicting that 84 beds and 497 staff will be cut over five years when population growth and aging are factored.

“As we move forward in time, these cuts compound and increase.”

Despite Doug Ford’s promise to end hallway medicine within 12 months of being elected, the number of seniors waiting to move into long-term care homes in Ontario have hit a record high, per a Toronto Star report.

“The reality is with a growing and aging population, you can’t make deep cuts to hospital capacity and expect that there won’t be an increase in people receiving care,” Hurley said.

“There was commitment from the Conservative government to deal with the problem of hallway medicine, and that suggests you have to add funding to meet the growing demand.”

The Thunder Bay Regional Hospital’s board report in June of 2019 listed patient flow as one of the hospitals’ greatest impediments. According to the report, patients remain in the hospital one full day longer than the Ontario average. 10 per cent of all patients wait over 43 hours before being admitted to a bed, and 19 per cent of total beds are occupied by alternative level of care patients.

The rise in admissions are a significant driver of operational costs.

“It’s a mess, and all we see from the OCHU report is that the Ford government plan for funding and health-care is going to make it even worse in Thunder Bay," said Jules Tupker, chair of the Thunder Bay Health Coalition.

According to Ontario Health Coalition report for hospitals in 2016, Ontario receives the lowest amount of funding per person, at nearly $440 below the provincial average.

“Clearly the funding is way too low,” Tupker said. “All health-care services need an increase in funding, it can’t get any worse than it is now.”