Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch is calling on the Ford government to put forward a plan to address the growing hospital capacity crisis in the province.
“The Ford government’s failure to prepare for the third wave has left our hospitals on the verge of collapse,” said Burch. “This means that while ICUs and beds are overflowing, thousands of essential medical procedures have to be put off.
“Tragically, we’re now hearing a story of a cancer patient who has lost their life after facing surgery delays.”
The NDP MPP says the surgery backlog in Ontario is now more than 250,000 procedures and counting, and close to a million cancer screenings haven’t happened.
“The Ford government’s failure to provide hospitals with the support they need is only going to make stories of patients dying after waiting for life-saving surgeries more common,” said Burch. “The government shouldn’t pat itself on the back for avoiding the worst-case triage scenario — the rationing of care is already having a devastating impact. Ontario needs a plan to address the hospital capacity crisis, and we need to invest the money to implement it now and save lives.”
There are 69 people being treated for COVID in Niagara's hospitals currentluy. 22 of those are in the ICU.