MPP Shaw calls for action on Hamilton ambulance shortages

HAMILTON – Shocking statistics about code zero events in Hamilton show that residents have been abandoned by the provincial government and left without emergency services when they need them most, said NDP MPP Sandy Shaw (Hamilton West–Ancaster—Dundas). On Tuesday in question period at Queen’s Park, Shaw called on the Ford government to better fund Hamilton’s hospitals and end hallway medicine so that ambulances are not stuck waiting hours to offload patients.

"It's so frightening to think that you could call an ambulance in an emergency and no one is able to come, yet this is exactly what is happening in Hamilton and the problem will only continue to grow without action from the provincial government," said Shaw.

In 2021, Hamilton saw 97 code zero incidents, where no ambulances were available for residents. In total, paramedics spent 32,500 hours waiting to drop off patients in packed emergency wards last year. Hamilton’s Mayor Fred Eisenberger has weighed in, stating that the province needs to address hallway medicine urgently.

“Hamiltonians need Ford to end these code zero crises upstream by funding our hospitals, creating more beds and ending hallway medicine. Instead, the government is trying to find ways to make paramedics do more with less by asking them to batch patients in hospital hallways,” said Shaw “Reducing quality of care and having fewer workers watching after more patients while they wait for a bed is not a solution to decades of hospital underfunding.”

“I asked Premier Doug Ford directly if he would ​commit today to reversing the underfunding of our hospital. He refused to answer even though inaction could cost lives,” said Shaw. ”Hamiltonians deserve better, It’s time for Ford and the conservatives to help fix our hallway medicine crisis and make sure emergency services are available for whoever needs them.”