Niagara This Week; Thorold, Ont. [Thorold, Ont]. 26 Sep 2011: 1.
Provincial election candidates in St. Catharines feel there are lessons to be learned from the Clostridium difficile outbreak in the region, but only two said someone needs to be held accountable. During an all-candidates debate about health care, hosted by the Retired Teachers of Ontario District 14 and the Niagara Health Coalition at Port Dalhousie Royal Canadian Legion last Tuesday, Communist Candidate Saleh Waziruddin said politicians should be held accountable for the combined 35 deaths at hospitals sites in Niagara. "Staff aren't being given the resources to do their job - they're being set up to fail," said Waziruddin. Waziruddin said that the Ontario Coalition of Hospital Unions had warned the Liberal government about the impact of cuts, specifically not providing the proper amount of time for cleaning. "The politicians weren't listening," he said. New Democratic Party candidate Irene Lowell said the private company responsible for cleaning hospitals should be held accountable. She said cleaning duties should be given back to hospital staff. "We need to have our own people cleaning hospitals. Good, eight-hour, unionized jobs," said Lowell, who later noted the NDP "is about putting people first." Other candidates were not prepared to lay blame, instead suggesting the government needs to use the crisis as an education. "We have to move forward and figure out where we went wrong," said Progressive Conservative candidate Sandie Bellows, who added that a PC government will disband the Local Health Integration Networks (LHIN) in the province and re-direct the funds - about $6 billion - to front-line care. "We have to really look clearly ... so hopefully something like this doesn't happen again," said Canadians' Choice Party candidate Jonathan Radick. Green Party candidate Jennifer Mooradian warned that as long as money is considered the bottom-line in health care, that there is the potential for such outbreaks to continue. She said that is the focus when a private company is contracted to do the task of cleaning in hospitals. "Quality health care should be put first - not money," Mooradian said to an applause from the audience of more than 50 people. Liberal incumbent Jim Bradley said he is deeply saddened by what has happened, and that there has to be work done to determine what happened, and how it can be prevented in the future. He said the cleaning of health care facilities needs to be improved upon, but said cuts to funding haven't been the cause. "The funding has increased dramatically - there has not been a cut in funding," he stressed, adding it's how the funding is utilized that is key. Bradley later added that his party's record is "one of continuing to make significant investments in health care" and that hospital funding will need to continue to increase. Other issues ranged from discussions on home care to mental health issues to the number of beds in the new St. Catharines hospital. Asked about the dramatic reduction in beds across the province, and in the region, over the past few decades, Lowell said the NDP would fight to save the St. Catharines hospital, and bring the capacity of beds up to 100 per cent. Bradley said there are other factors, such as the desire for patients to move out of a hospital setting towards home care. Some patients, he said, prefer to be in their own setting, receiving visits from health care professionals at home. Mooradian, whose party pledges to increase health care spending by two per cent each year, said more long-term care beds are needed, especially in St. Catharines where there is an aging population. Later on, the question of beds specifically focused on whether all of the hospital beds for the new facility should be available when the doors open, or whether it should be phased in. "The Tim Hudak team realizes the beds are important to the health care system," said Bellows, noting the elimination of the LHINs would give a PC government $6 billion to spend on front-line health care issues, such as ensuring full-capacity at the hospital. Waziruddin said his party would go above and beyond. "Instead of 80 per cent (capacity), we'd have a surplus," he said, adding his party would re-open emergency rooms across Niagara. Radick said the new hospital will have 375 beds, but it's not enough of an increase from the 357 at the current St. Catharines General Hospital site. "You're still going to have the same wait times," Radick said. Mooradian and Lowell said all of the beds should be opened to meet the community's needs, but Bradley did not commit to opening every bed right away when the new hospital opens.
"You may phase it coming in," he said, "but the ideal would be to use each one of these beds."
Credit: Scott Rosts, staff; srosts@grimsbylincolnnews.com
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