The Systemic and Deliberate Crisis inChildren's Hospitals
Wait, What's Happening?
This past week, a pediatric hospital in Ottawa had to call in the Red Cross for support. Meanwhile a respite hospital in Calgary, which supports pediatric patients with end-of-life services, had to close beds to redirect staff to the Calgary Children's Hospital.
Hospitals across the country are in a state of crisis, so we shouldn't be surprised that this crisis is extending to children's hospitals too. More children are entering hospitals with influenza (the flu) than they have at any time in the last decade. This is compounded by record-high cases of RSV and the continued spread of COVID-19.
But the root of this crisis isn't in the spread of the virus, it is the systemic and intentional destabilizing (via chronic underfunding) of our public health care systems by (in most cases Conservative) provincial governments across the country.
In Alberta...
In Ontario…
Consider: What sort of monster underfunds public systems?
Let's focus on Ontario for a minute. We know that Doug Ford has friends in the private healthcare sector that would benefit from he privatization of our health care system. In order to get Ontarians on board for private health care, the system needs to get so bad that we can believe that privatizing the system will solve our problems. Let's look at some moves towards crisis put in place over the last year - first Ford put in Bill 124, then then Ford decides to withhold $600 million of taxpayer dollars that he himself had originally allotted for the health system, then he removes public health measures - he is manufacturing chaos so he and his friends can benefit from privatization of our public systems.
Privitization Isn't It
We are creeping towards privatization because our leaders, who designed this mess in the first place, don't believe that health is a human right and do not believe it is their job to provide essential public services that center on care and people rather than profits.
If they want to make a profit, they should work in the for-profit industry. But they chose to be in public office, they chose to serve the people and that means using taxpayer dollars to help the people, not your golf buddies, not your campaign donors, not the former Conservative Premier - the people of the province they represent.
Take Action
Email your Provincial Representative here: www.oncanadaproject.ca/findyourrep
Email our Prime Minister and ask for Federal intervention to protect our public health system.
