Hospital staffing crisis reaching 'breaking point' in Ontario, union says
CBC
A union representing Ontario hospital workers is calling for an injection of funding into the province's health-care system to help curtail what they call a worsening staffing crisis.
CUPE's Ontario Council of Hospital Unions says its members — which includes registered practical nurses, personal support workers and clerical staff — are experiencing crushing workloads in understaffed hospitals and the situation is taking a toll on their well-being.
Secretary-treasurer Sharon Richer says a recent survey of more than 750 members indicates 26 per cent of respondents have considered leaving their jobs and 41 per cent dread going to work because of the heavy workload. The survey response rate was three per cent.
"The results of this survey are alarming and illustrate the gravity of staffing crises that have been years in the making, but which is now reaching a new breaking point," Richer said at a press conference Wednesday.
"This survey confirms that workers are deeply unhappy about their working conditions with profound consequences on their mental health."
As the union bargains for a new contract, it's calling on the government to increase full-time staff in hospitals and to follow British Columbia's lead by bringing in mandated minimum staff-to-patient ratios.
The province's nurses are among the highest paid nursing workforces in Canada, a spokesperson for Ontario's minister of health said in a statement to CBC Toronto.
The spokesperson also pointed to the addition of 15,000 nurses in 2023.
The union wants the province to invest $1.25 billion annually over the next four years on top of inflation.
The province's independent fiscal watchdog has said the government needs to add more than 86,000 nurses and personal support workers by 2028 to get back to pre-pandemic staff levels and meet commitments to expand hospitals, home care and long-term care.
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