Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas used the final question period of the spring session of the legislature to push Premier Kathleen Wynne on issues facing Health Sciences North, pointing to a “humiliating, embarrassing and demeaning experience” of a man who needed care in Sudbury.
“Henri Chartrand, from my riding, spent his stay at HSN first in the ER waiting for a bed, just to be moved to a TV room,” said Gélinas. “He told me it was a humiliating, embarrassing and demeaning experience he never wants to have to go through again.
“Unfortunately, Mr. Chartrand is just one example of literally hundreds from across the province.”
According to Gélinas, Wynne's 2017 budget underfunded hospitals by at least $300 million, further damaging already overcrowded hospitals where patients are coping with long waits and hallway medicine.
Gelinas said the painful shortfall is going to do even more damage to hospitals already struggling after years of cuts and underfunding by Wynne – damage that patients like Chartrand can feel.
“We’ve seen occupancy rates of over 120 per cent in acute care units, and people receiving treatments in hallways, TV rooms, shower rooms, storage areas and in patient lounges. The list goes on,” Gelinas told Wynne.
“The premier’s constant cuts to health care are hurting the very people that she is supposed to be helping. Why does the premier refuse to properly fund our hospitals?”
