NDP reveals shocking new numbers on hallway medicine in Hamilton, Markham and Sudbury

QUEEN’S PARK — Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath offered fresh evidence Tuesday that Doug Ford is taking hallway medicine from bad to worse, revealing alarming numbers showing hospitals in Hamilton, Markham and Sudbury running overcapacity over the last year.

Freedom of Information requests filed by the NDP indicate that capacity at Hamilton’s Juravinski Hospital has climbed to 110 per cent capacity; Markham Stouffville Hospital is at 116 per cent capacity — up from 103 per cent under the Liberals — and Sudbury Health Sciences was over 100 per cent capacity every month over the last year. The internationally recognized cut-off for safe capacity levels in hospitals is 85 per cent.

“We have heard story after story of Ontarians waiting longer to see doctors in hospitals, being left to lie in hallways under bright lights, and going weeks without a shower,” said Horwath. “We know from the alarming numbers that hospitals across the province routinely operate overcapacity. Frontline health care workers are run off their feet and doing their best in bad circumstances that are getting worse.

“Instead of turning the corner on the Liberal legacy of hallway medicine, Ford’s Conservatives are taking things from bad to worse with cuts and underfunding.”

The alarming numbers on overcapacity at hospitals in Hamilton, Markham and Sudbury echo scenarios playing out in cities across Ontario. Last week, the NDP revealed that for every 100 patients Peel Memorial in Brampton is funded to handle, more than 500 people walk through its doors seeking care, while Brampton Civic Hospital and Etobicoke General consistently operate beyond 100 per cent.