May 6th, 2022
Horwath commits to taking Brampton from one hospital to three
BRAMPTON – NDP Leader Andrea Horwath will finally start to fix Brampton’s crisis of hallway medicine and long waits by expanding Peel Memorial into a real hospital with an ER, and adding a new standalone hospital.
“People in Brampton should, at the very least, have the basics. They tell me they just want an ER you can count on to help your kid quickly in an emergency. Enough staff and beds to guarantee your mom won’t be left in a hallway on a gurney. We can absolutely deliver that,” said Horwath.
“Everyone in this community knows that the wait times at the Brampton Civic are long and painful, and hallway medicine is rampant. So many people here have told me they drive straight to another city when they need a hospital. We have to fix it. Together, we’re going from one hospital in Brampton to three – with three emergency rooms, shorter waits and faster care.”
Horwath’s NDP will fund the expansion of Peel Memorial hospital to include a round-the-clock emergency department, build a brand new full-service hospital, and establish a dedicated cancer centre.
Brampton’s population is 650,000 and Brampton Civic is the city’s only hospital with an ER. It sees 140,000 people yearly even though it’s built and funded to handle 90,000. About 5,000 patients are treated in Brampton Civic’s hallways every year. Brampton only has 96 beds per 100,000 people. The provincial average is 220 beds per 100,000 people.
“Kathleen Wynne and Steven Del Duca’s Liberals had 15 years to build hospitals in Brampton, but chose not to. And Doug Ford’s cuts to health care won’t fix it,” said Horwath.
“We will always go to bat for Brampton. And together, we can finally give this community its fair share, and better health care.”
Background
- Doug Ford’s Conservatives said they would end hallway medicine in Brampton, but according to data from 2019, Brampton hospitals were operating at over 100 per cent capacity throughout the year and urgent care was regularly operating at over 500 per cent capacity.
- During the pandemic, the Ford government broke its promise to upgrade Peel Memorial to a full hospital to include a second emergency room and additional acute care beds.
- Doug Ford’s Conservatives blocked and voted against NDP motions calling on the government to immediately provide the funding necessary to address the need for additional hospital beds in Brampton.
- Brampton received the lowest per capita funding in the province and advocates have accused the Ford government of violating the Canada Health Care Act by not providing adequate funding to meet basic needs.
- The problems go back to Kathleen Wynne and Steven Del Duca’s Liberals. Brampton Civic was in Code Gridlock multiple times every week by the time the Liberals left office.
