Urgent action needed to address widespread hospital closures

Statement from the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA)

ONA is hearing very troubling reports from our front-line members about multiple cuts and closures of beds and units in at least 14 Ontario hospitals ahead of the upcoming long weekend.

We are outraged and alarmed about the growing impact the nursing shortage is having on patient care. These closures are not the fault of individual hospitals, they are a symptom of the province-wide neglect of our dedicated registered nurses and health-care professionals throughout the pandemic and before.

ONA members have been sickened, are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, are exhausted and continue to face infection with COVID-19 due to the relaxing of public health protections. Workplace violence is on the increase.

There are solutions and ONA has been urging the province to work with us to urgently implement measures to ease this crisis. We continue to call for the government to sit down with ONA and other health-care unions. We cannot wait any longer to resolve this crisis that is harming Ontarians and their access to health care.

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For more information: 

Sheree Bond shereeb@ona.org