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How many times can you pull on an elastic band before it breaks? I suppose it depends on the amount of stress in each pull?
One could compare the Ontario healthcare system to an elastic band. Successive Ontario governments have taken the healthcare system for granted and it has been under stress for years. The result is a system that has snapped and is in crisis.
No matter where you look, long-term care, home care and hospital care have been stressed to the point that they are broken. All sectors are underfunded, patient care is suffering and employees are not recognized for the incredible work that they perform daily.
The COVID pandemic has really brought the crisis into the limelight. Take nurses as an example. Prior to the start of the pandemic, the Ford government passed Bill 124. It limits annual salary increases for nurses to one per cent.
One per cent doesn't even come close to keeping up with inflation (currently at 5.7 per cent). Then the pandemic hit. Nurses and other health care professionals put their lives on the line daily to assist those who fell ill to COVID. Under COVID conditions, a one per cent pay increase is like a slap in the face. One per cent has to be demoralizing and it would undoubtedly leave one feeling completely disrespected.
Nurses are burned out, underpaid and are leaving the profession in large numbers. What did the Ford government do? They implemented a $5,000 retention payment system for nurses. Did it work? Nurses are still leaving in large numbers. Many have looked to the private sector and found employment that recognizes their value and remunerates appropriately.
The Ford government refuses to repeal Bill 124. Recently, Ford decided to refund Ontario driver's license plate sticker payments for the past two years. The cost – $1.1billion. Rather than refund drivers with what is largely viewed as an attempt to buy votes in the upcoming election, $1.1 billion would have gone a long way to recognizing the value of nurses to our society and would have been a big step towards fixing part of our broken healthcare system.
Ron Tadman
Blue Mountains
