NDP: Ford’s underfunding sees 400 jobs cut at Ottawa Hospital

OTTAWA — Ontario NDP MPP Catherine McKenney (Ottawa Centre) and Shadow Health Minister France Gélinas (Nickel Belt) have issued the following statement, as the Ottawa Hospital is set to cut 400 jobs —a direct result of the Ford government’s underfunding:

“This is devastating news for Ottawa,” said McKenney. “400 people that serve our community’s health care sector are losing their jobs. Nurses. PSWs. The people who take care of us when we’re scared and sick. Everyone in Ottawa will be impacted by this, at some point.

“While Doug Ford obsesses over vanity projects on Toronto’s waterfront, ER wait times in Ottawa are 16 to 23 hours. Nearly 200,000 residents are already without a doctor or nurse practitioner. The Premier needs to remember that Ontario is bigger than just the GTA. He must support Ottawa’s health care system.”

“Eight years of Doug Ford has left our health care system deep in crisis,” said Gélinas. “The Premier and Minister Jones have failed every major test. People can’t find a family doctor. They’re paying out of pocket for primary care because Ontario won’t fund nurse practitioner care. Now, the burnt-out health care workers who are holding it all together are being forced out due to financial pressures.

“As long as Ford and Jones continue their refusal to give our health care system the funding and support it needs, Ontarians will continue to pay the price. Our province will keep losing desperately-needed health care workers, and access to care will only become more difficult to find. The Premier needs to put people’s care over profit.”