External News Archives - Ontario Council of Hospital Unions

Ontario is failing to protect heath-care workers

May 18, 2020

Op-ed from OCHU RPNs Pam Parks, Judy Bain and Maggie Jewell

Ontario PPE guidelines based on supply, not protecting workers

May 13, 2020

Jim Brophy, occupational health expert, says guidelines are not based on scientific evidence

Health minister answers media questions about pandemic pay for all health care workers

May 13, 2020

Canada’s for-profit model of long-term care has failed the elderly, says leading expert

Apr 24, 2020

Elderly care needs to be recognized for the skilled work that it is, says Pat Armstrong The first person to die of COVID-19 in Canada was a resident of a long-term care home — a man in his 80s, living at the Lynn Valley Care...

‘We are scared’: PSW describes courage needed on the front lines of COVID-19 in long-term care

Apr 15, 2020

Every day before Mary opens up the door to the unit she works on as a personal support worker at an Ontario long-term care home, she thinks to herself, “Oh I hope everyone is OK.”

Desperate long-term care homes struggle to find staff as COVID-19 sickens resident and sidelines workers

Apr 9, 2020

Struggling to fill empty shifts for front-line workers, the Rekai Centres’ long-term care staff telephoned 1,000 former health-care interns asking for their help. Fourteen agreed. Only eight appeared for work. And one didn’t...

CUPE Releases Emergency Medical Services Crisis report

Mar 4, 2020

The total volume of emergency calls in Ontario is rising, with the highest rate of growth taking place in the category of calls that demand the most urgent response.

Hospital overcrowding – the Ontario Health Coalition wants your stories

Feb 14, 2020

If you are willing to share your story, please email ohc@sympatico.ca with “ATTN Megan” in the subject line, or call 416-441-2502 and say you have a hospital overcrowding experience. Your story can be kept confidential.

‘Everyone is terrified’: What’s behind workplace violence at Newmarket’s Southlake hospital?

Feb 12, 2020

“The number of code white alarm calls at Southlake, sounded when someone is at risk of violence, rose from 402 in 2015-16 to 653 in 2016-17. In 2017-18, there were 549 calls.”

Ontario Hospitals: Leaders in Efficiency

Dec 31, 2019

Ontario hospitals lead the country with their longstanding, lean operational performance. However, they are clearly showing signs of strain – largely due to multiple years of funding restraint, the lack of system-wide capacity planning, significant demographic growth and a shortage of capacity in other health sectors.

Given the extraordinary gains in efficiency made by Ontario hospitals, the expectation that more can be harvested simply isn’t realistic, and at many organizations, continued access to high-quality hospital services is now at risk.