January 15th, 2018

Horwath and Fife: Health care system plagued by long waits at every stage

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath and Kitchener-Waterloo MPP Catherine Fife met with Waterloo resident Nancy Totzke Monday to discuss the effect of long health care wait-times.

Totzke has been waiting over two years for a date for surgery to correct her spinal stenosis.

“What I heard today from Nancy is heartbreaking – and she’s not alone. From the 32,000 person wait-list for long-term care, to long ER waits, to patients waiting years for specialists and surgeries – the squeeze on hospitals and health care in Ontario has made the waits far too long for far too many.”

Totzke said her condition has gotten worse during the long wait.

“I feel like I’ve completely lost my quality of life,” said Totzke. “I used to be so active. My husband is in long-term care and I try to visit him every day, but sometimes it’s just not possible – I’m in too much pain.”

The NDP has released numerous documents obtained through Freedom of Information laws showing overcrowding at Waterloo regional hospitals and has been critical of the Wynne Liberals for letting patients down when it comes to long surgical wait-times. In November, the NDP released an FOI showing Grand River Hospital was operating at over 100 per cent capacity in its medical, surgical, stroke and oncology beds for most of 2015 and 2016. Fife has also heard from constituents waiting 16 months for a hip replacement, and 18 months for a knee replacement.

In September, the Ontario Hospital Association said that emergency department wait times across the province have now hit the highest monthly levels recorded since the province started measuring wait times nine years ago.

“Whether it’s people like Nancy waiting to see specialists, or people who whose long-awaited surgeries are pushed back because the hospitals are too overcrowded when the day comes, long waits are being normalized, and that’s simply not an acceptable way to treat patients who need care,” said Fife. “Families need a plan that will offer them hope.”

Horwath has announced her party’s plan to begin to reverse the damage done to the health care system by decades of Conservative and Liberal cuts. She has pushed for a broad, public find-and-fix inquiry into long-term care, including addressing the 32,000 person wait-list. Horwath has committed to funding hospitals, at minimum, to the rate of inflation, population growth and to meet the unique needs to communities.

“It doesn’t have to be this way in Ontario,” said Horwath. “We have world-class health care professionals, and we can prioritize the resources they need to deliver incredible care, when patients need it.”