Hospital parking fees frozen for three years

North-Bay-Regional_CroppedThe provincial government of Ontario announced on Monday that it is freezing the cost of hospital parking fees for the next three years. The announcement means that hospital parking around North Bay and Ontario as a whole will remain frozen at its current price, effective immediately.

As well as freezing prices, the government said in a release that those hospitals or medical facilities with parking currently priced over $10 per day will be mandated to offer discounted passes for 5, 10 or 30-day use at a discount of 50 percent the daily rate. North Bay Regional Hospital does not fit into that bracket as its per day flat rate sits at $6 for both visitors and patients.

Those purchasing passes from more expensive hospitals will be able to transfer them to other people and use their days over a one year period, effective Oct. 1, 2016. The news has received mixed reactions, with Dr. Eric Hoskins, minister of Health and Long-Term care, pointing out that high parking fees should not be a reason why a patient does not get care:

“With today’s announcement, we are providing relief from the high cost of parking at some hospitals in Ontario. By making parking more affordable for patients and their loved ones who visit the hospital often, we are helping to reduce the burden of parking fees and putting patients first,” said Hoskins.

However, while patients and visitors may welcome the fixed prices, the Ontario Hospital Association is worried and says medical centers are already absorbing cutbacks and costs:

“As hospitals continue to absorb hundreds of millions in operating costs without an inflationary increase, it is increasingly difficult for them to invest in other important health care priorities, such as capital improvements to their buildings, new medical and diagnostic equipment, and information and communications technology,” adds the release.

Fallout from North Bay Hospital Job Cuts results in Protests

North-Bay-Regional_CroppedThe fallout from Wednesday’s announcement that 158 jobs and some 30 beds will be cut from the North Bay Regional Health Centre has been sizeable and swift. Some are taking the chance to batter the liberal government for its failings, while the Canadian Union of Public Employees is planning protests today that it describes as “massive.”

“We need to protect these jobs and we need to rally all coalitions and area residents against these cuts,” claim Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition. “We are planning three days of massive action and one of the days will be in North Bay.

“We will be heard. We will have thousands of people who will be heard all the way down to Queen’s Park.

“Right now, North Bay is being battered with cuts and privatization. These cuts are the worst in all of Ontario. This city has lost 360,000 hours of patient care in the last few years.”

The protests come in the wake of the news of huge cuts from the North Bay hospital, which has been underfunded and now sits with a $14 million deficit for the year. Attempting make up that cost has meant many full-time staff have lost their jobs, while numerous beds have also been lost. While hospital president Paul Heinrich attempted to put a positive spin on the cuts, saying they would improve patient care, the general consensus is that the opposite is true.

However, while Heinrich is guilty of optimism in front of a bleaker truth for patient care, the blame is largely being placed at the door step of the liberal Ontario government.

It is not just the main Health Centre that will be impacted either as Heinrich confirmed that of the 30 beds being slashed, 16-18 will come from the hospital’s satellite location on Kirkwood Drive in Sudbury. Those beds are specialized rehabilitative mental health units.

“What we told staff today is that we will be working with partners from the Sudbury area to develop a high-support housing — there’ll be social workers and therapists, and even nurses,” he said. “We’re going to transition those 16 beds into a complex, to be developed in Sudbury… We’re establishing a better quality of life. Our vision for mental health care is to respect people, and to (nurture) choice and independence.”

North Bay Hospital Cuts 158 Jobs

Hospital through the eyes of a patientThe North Bay Regional Health Centre has taken drastic measures in a bid to avoid an estimated $14 million deficit, implementing major staffing cuts bring down costs.

The hospital informed the workforce yesterday that 158 full-time jobs will be slashed, which has left many worried about the level of care that can now be expected from the Health Centre. The hospital has taken another viewpoint though and president Paul Heinrich said the cuts will actually mean the facility will run with greater efficiency.

“It’s going to mean improved patient care in many respects. What we’re doing is similar to other organizations in the province, and they’re able to get good outcomes with less expenditure than us, and that’s the bar that we’re going to achieve as well,” he said.

However, despite that ambitious prediction from Heinrich, the North Bay Regional Health Centre has come under fire for the substantial job cuts. Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli was critical of the North Bay health system but laid the blame at the doorstep of the liberal Ontarian government.

“That’s in addition to the 197 front-line health care workers that were fired in the last couple of years,” he said in an interview on Morning North.

“Also, we’ve got 60 hospital beds that have been now closed in the city of North Bay [in the last few years], so it’s not very nice to be back [at Queen’s Park] and not get any answers.”

There has also been an accusation that the remaining staff will now be overworked while also performing with the potential threat of their own future job security in question. Michael Hurley, the President of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions/Canadian Union of Public Employees, says that ultimately it will be patients who will bear the brunt of staff cuts.

“No community in Ontario is suffering hospital cuts to the extent that the North Bay community is suffering them,” said Hurley. “The Liberals saddled North Bay with an enormously expensive P3 hospital after promising to scrap the deal and they are cutting the hospital’s budget by almost six per cent a year. The province must step in immediately with funding to stop the bleeding out of vital patient services.”

The hospital has been forced into the position as it received $14 million less than it needed to maintain operations at full capacity through 2015. As the department attempts to recover that deficit it has also had to close 30 beds alongside the outgoing staff members.