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Cornwall Standard-Freeholder, November 6
CORNWALL — A high-profile union leader has added his voice to the call for additional funding to help right the Cornwall Community Hospital’s financial ship.
CUPE Ontario President Sid Ryan weighed in on the financial dilemma facing the local hospital during a visit to Cornwall on Thursday, saying the province must fund hospitals at appropriate levels to ensure services are maintained.
Ryan said the provincial legislation that requires hospitals to balance their budgets is creating a funding crisis across Ontario, and both management and labour agree that additional funding is needed.
“We’re both on the same page here,” said the provincial boss of the Canadian Union Of Public Employees, which represents some of the workers at the CCH.
Ryan described the Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) — organizations which are tasked with coordinating health services in various regions of the province — as a “scam to shelter the government from criticism.”
Locally, the Champlain LHIN undertook a third-party review of the CCH to identify ways of improving the hospital’s fiscal picture. As a result of that review, the CCH has announced plans to reduce its medical and surgical activities and eliminate its pacemaker insertion program in order to cut operating costs by $2.1 million.
And work towards balancing its budget. However, even with those changes, the review indicates the hospital still requires another $6.6 million to balance its budget. Without additional funding, hospital officials could be left with no choice but to make further cuts.
Local MPP Jim Brownell is working to arrange a meeting between CCH officials and Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews to discuss the situation, and hospital officials are hoping the province will see fit to provide additional funding.
Ryan said the budget crunch is being heightened by the H1N1 outbreak, which has pushed hospital resources to the max.
“There’s no surge left in the system,” he said.
Ryan said he’s deeply worried that the funding woes could lead to further service and job cuts, as 80 per cent of healthcare spending is related to human resources.
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That’s what delivers healthcare, it’s the people,” Ryan added.
A longer-term fear of Ryan’s is that by continuing to “under-fund” healthcare, the government will indirectly build support for privatization as the current system will leave a bad taste in people’s mouths.
The union boss also criticized the government for even considering implementing “Dalton Days” — mandatory unpaid leave for public workers — as a way of cutting government spending. Such a move would place an even greater burden on existing workers, Ryan said, and it likely wouldn’t save any money because some workers would rack up big overtime costs to cover for departed workers.
The government should be trying to stimulate the economy by investing in communities, but hospital cuts and “Dalton Days” will only lead to money being taken out of communities, Ryan added.
“Clearly, that’s at odds with the principal of stimulating the economy,” he said.
Ryan was in Cornwall to serve as the guest speaker at the Cornwall and District Labour Council’s 2009 Awards Banquet at the Navy Veterans’ Club on Sixth Street.
The awards ceremony was dedicated to the memory of Fred Empey, a long-time local union activist who passed away earlier this year. Empey, a union head at Domtar, was posthumously presented the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Other awards went to Thomas Mullin of USW 9343 (Compensation and Disability Rights Advocates Award), Carol Rainey-McDonald of CUPE (Health and Safety Activist Award), Richard Deneault of Plumbers and Steamfitters UA 71 (Cornwall Labour Council Union Activist of the Year) and Trevor Tolley (Community Activist of the Year).
