Mayoral candidate Bill Crumplin says the Ontario government under Premier Doug Ford is turning its back on patients, their families and on nurses.
During the campaign, Ford promised to end hallway medicine and hospital overcrowding. In September, Health Minister Christine Elliott said “system transformation” is still the goal, but difficult financial times means the health-care sector will have to be more efficient.
Now, faced with a purported $15-billion budget deficit as revealed last week by Finance Minister Vic Fedeli, those efficiencies might end up being pretty tight.
In Sudbury, we’ve seen Health Sciences North’s attempts to rein in an $11-million deficit has resulted in, according to the Ontario Nurses’ Association, the loss of 60.5 nursing jobs and 118,000 nursing hours.
Crumplin defended nursing and nurses by sharing two personal stories about his own experiences with the health-care system.
In particular, he highlighted the care his late wife received after contracting a rare, incurable disease that ultimately took her life, and his own treatment for Stage 3 throat cancer.
“The nurses who cared for my wife and me were wonderful. They were always professional and concerned. They provided care. They listened. They advocated for us. They shared our pain and worries. And, above all, they gave us needed hope,” Crumplin said. “So, it pains me to see the Ford Government turn its back on patients, their families and nurses in particular.
“I am seriously frightened by what these cuts to health care will mean to patients and nurses alike. The only thing fewer nurses can do, quite frankly, is less. Less care. Less compassion. Less hope.”
Read the full text of Crumplin’s media release below.
Doug Ford and his inability to be a compassionate leader has led me to briefly share two stories. I feel this is the time to share these stories given the fact the Ford Government has decided to balance a budget on the backs of hospital patients, nurses and the families of the ill and front-line care givers.
The essence of the first story is that my beloved late wife contracted a rare incurable disease and died within months. But in those months, she received expert, compassionate, caring support from nurses and doctors.
Then within a month, I was diagnosed with stage 3 throat cancer. I was quickly treated with state-of-the art expertise at the Northeast Cancer Centre. And again, I experienced the compassion, care, patience, support of the nurses, and physicians. I also received much needed hope. My survival of both events was thanks to these caring, compassionate professionals.
The nurses who cared for my wife and me were wonderful. They were always professional and concerned. They provided care. They listened. They advocated for us. They shared our pain and worries. And, above all, they gave us needed hope.
So, it pains me to see the Ford Government turn its back on patients, their families and nurses in particular. Doug Ford so easily ignores the fact that there are real people, with real life and death challenges on the other side of the balance sheet. He only sees patients as numbers in the cost column. I am seriously frightened by what these cuts to health care will mean to patients and nurses alike. The only thing fewer nurses can do, quite frankly, is less. Less care. Less compassion. Less hope.
Learn more about Crumplin on his election page on Sudbury.com.
