Letter: Cut administration, hire more nurses

Not long ago a registered nurse of some 20 years in our employ presented us with some rather disturbing figures as it pertains to nurse staffing in the province of Ontario.

We, the owners of all hospitals in our province, have tolerated nurse staffing cuts which have resulted in the loss of millions of hours of patient care. No doubt this is due to budget deliberations by administrative personnel.

We as owners of our medical houses have priorities, and no matter how many owners I ask, the number one priority is indisputably the abundantly skilled medical personnel and the tools [equipment] they use.

Those personnel claim the number two priority is the hygiene of our facilities, so that’s the custodial staffing.

This brings us to the number three position, administrative personnel.

Our health care is the reason we created these facilities in the first place and maintaining adequate numbers of medical staff and equipment must be afforded within current fiscal constraints.

Obviously, to enhance our first priority, we merely reallocate funding from the third priority. Problem solved.

If more funding is necessary, we can always milk top-level administrative remuneration packages from colleges and universities within the province, not to mention MP and MPP take-home dollars.

Reallocation of some current funds from various provincial government vocations is the key to improved medical care for the owners.

Barry Gotro
Sudbury