Response to Orillia Hospital Cuts

Posted: May 3, 2016

(May 3, 2016)

Author: Ian MacLennan, Bayshore Broadcasting

Recent bed closures and jobs cuts at Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital in Orillia has caught the attention of the Ontario Health Coalition.

The OHC,  along with the Simcoe Muskoka District Labour Council, is hosting a town hall meeting on Tuesday night to hear feedback from the public about the cuts being made.

The meeting is at the Best Western Mariposa Inn at 7 PM

The hospital is closing 16 beds and eliminating 35 full time jobs.

OHC executive director Natalie Mehra says hospitals are overcrowded seriously,  in many cases dangerously,  understaffed and facing round after round after round of cuts to services.

She says Ontario funds its hospitals at the lowest rate in the country next to Quebec.

Mehra says more funding is needed,  at least to meet the average of the rest of the country.

The OHC says it’s important to ensure funding dollars are going to be used to restore services in communities.

Soldiers’ Memorial made the cuts to balance a $5.9 million dollar budget shortfall.

The hospital says the major budget initiative is a newly designed program to enhance care for patients requiring post-acute rehabilitation services and medical care,  and beds will be relocated within the hospital to the new unit to be established on the 4th floor.