About 25 Ontario hospitals scaled back operations on weekend due to staff shortages, union says

About 25 hospitals in Ontario were forced to scale back sections of their facilities on the long weekend due to staff shortages, according to a provincial union that represents nurses.

Cathryn Hoy, provincial president of the Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA), said on Monday the hospitals had to close units, reduce the number of beds or redirect patients to other locations. She called the situation a "disaster" and warned that the staff shortages seen in hospitals across the province on the weekend will only get worse.

"This getting by has got to stop now. It really does. And nurses are walking out every single day," Hoy said. "And if this keeps up and there's no ray of sunshine or hope from the government, it's only going to get worse."

Hoy said she thinks the September long weekend will be "horrendous." The ONA represents 68,000 nurses and health-care professionals and 18,000 nursing student affiliates.

She called for the repeal of legislation, known as Bill 124, that limits annual salary increases for nurses. Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, which was enacted in 2019, caps the wage increases of provincial employees, including nurses, at one per cent per year, which is below the rate of inflation.

"The government needs to sit down with us, pay people what they should be paid, look at getting staffing in them, change some of the programming because people need a rest," she said.

Doris Grinspun, CEO of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO), said on Monday the nursing staff shortage has reached a critical point. She described the situation as "dire." RNAO is a professional association that represents registered nurses, nurse practitioners and nursing students in Ontario.

Grinspun said she hopes a meeting with Ontario government cabinet ministers, including Health Minister Sylvia Jones, that is expected to happen soon, will make a difference.

"We need giant steps, which means all solutions on board at once. And also these solutions cannot wait until the legislature resumes on August 8. They need to happen now," she said.

In a statement to CBC Toronto on Friday, Jones said the Ontario government has added more than 10,500 health-care workers to the health-care system since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. That number includes more than 762 internationally educated nurses, who have been placed in 62 hospitals across the province, she said. 

"Like many other jurisdictions around the world, Ontario's health system faces pressures due to the challenge of maintaining the required staffing levels. We have been working proactively with all partners, including Ontario Health and the 140 public hospital corporations, the regulatory colleges, and health sector unions, to address these staffing pressures," Jones said.

Jones added that the government needs to identify both short and long term solutions to staff shortages.