QUEEN’S PARK — MPP for Guelph Mike Schreiner released the following statement in response to news that the government may not meet its long-term care direct care target due to staffing shortages.
“Every single sector of our healthcare system has been hemorrhaging nurses for years now as frontline workers leave the public sector – or the profession altogether – in search of better pay and more manageable workloads.
As a result, long-term care homes are struggling to provide the level of care that residents need, often paying astronomical prices to private staffing agencies just to fill in the gaps.
Who pays the price for the government’s years of negligence? Our parents, friends, family and some of our most vulnerable community members.
If the Premier and the Health Minister want to fix the problems at the root of the healthcare crisis, they should stop funneling billions into for-profit healthcare and start treating our public workers with the fairness they deserve.”