OCHU

For release: 10:00 a.m. March 29, 2010

Staff rally for province to aid the Brockville General Hospital

Brockville Ontario…Staff will rally today to request that the Ontario government cover the operating deficit of the Brockville General Hospital. CUPE Local 5666, which is sponsoring the campaign represents 150 nurses, clerical, maintenance, cleaning, dietary and support staff at the hospital.

CUPE Local 5666 President Martha Godin explained that the rally will send the message that “ the 1.5% funding increase announced in the provincial budget will mean further bed and service cutbacks in 2010. With several years of underfunding ahead, eventually only a shell of a hospital will be left in Brockville. We are in deficit because our population is aging and using our services more. We staff the most efficient hospital system in Canada, with the shortest lengths of stay and the fewest numbers of beds and staff to population of any province. We are not being funded to cover the increased use of its services. The answer is not cuts, which will make the hospital less efficient, but real funding increases.”

Ontario Council of Hospital Unions Vice-president Louis Rodrigues, from Kingston, said that “ there seems to be a difference in treatment between ridings held by Liberal MPPs and those of other parties. Money has been found to help with the deficits of the Royal Ottawa Hospital, Cornwall Community Hospital, Sudbury Regional Hospital and the Niagara Health System, all represented by Liberals. The needs of the citizens of Brockville are no less pressing.”

Ontario Council of Hospital Unions President Michael Hurley stated that “ the Liberal government is focused just on trimming hospital costs, which are up 24% since this government was elected. But in the same period doctors’ costs are up 57% and drug costs are up 37%. The government is not dealing with these cost drivers, instead they are methodically dismantling the most efficient hospital system in Canada, through underfunding.”

For information contact:
Martha Godin, President, CUPE Local 5666: 613-340-4495
Louis Rodrigues: OCHU Vice-president: 613-531-1319
Michael Hurley, President, OCHU: 416-884-0770

For release: 2:00 p.m. March 28, 2010

Media Advisory

What: Rally

When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 29, 2010

Where: Brockville General Hospital 75 Charles Street

Who: Hospital staff

Why: To press the province to cover the deficit of the Brockville General Hospital

For information contact:
Martha Godin, President, CUPE Local 5666: 613-340-4495
Louis Rodrigues: OCHU Vice-president: 613-531-1319
Michael Hurley, President, OCHU: 416-884-0770

For release: 6:00 a.m. March 16, 2010

Hospital staff begin postcard campaign to call on province to fully cover the deficit of the Brockville General Hospital

Brockville Ontario…The Ontario government should fully fund the deficit of the Brockville General Hospital, hospital staff will request today, as they kick off a postcard campaign aimed at the provincial government. CUPE Local 5666, which is sponsoring the campaign represents 150 nurses, clerical, maintenance, cleaning, dietary and support staff at the Brockville General Hospital. The campaign will escalate, with a public meeting and a rally at the hospital on
March 29.

CUPE Local 5666 President Martha Godin explains that the campaign will tell the province that “ the Brockville General Hospital has a deficit because the population in its catchment area is aging and using its services more frequently. Ontario has the most efficient hospital system in Canada, with the shortest lengths of stay and the fewest numbers of beds and staff to population of any province. The hospital is not being funded to cover the increased use of its services. The answer is not cuts, which will make the hospital less efficient, but real funding increases and a solution to the deficit problem.”

Ontario Council of Hospital Unions President Michael Hurley states that “ the closure of 10% of Brockville General Hospital’s beds is an enormous loss for a small community. This is part of the McGuinty government’s plan to gradually close down hospital services in rural, northern and small town Ontario. We are urging the community to act now, while Brockville still has 142 hospital beds. “

Hurley also states that “when the Minister points to community services to pick up the slack from the closed hospital beds, she should re-read ‘ The Emperor’s New Clothes ‘. Homecare, which will receive these patients is delivering fewer services and has a 57% annual turnover of staff. Cuts to services have been announced in this LHIN.“

For information contact:
Martha Godin, President, CUPE Local 5666: 613-340-4495
Michael Hurley, President, Ontario Council of Hospital Unions: 416-884-0770

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