Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli has responded to hospital union claims that northern Ontario nurses are stressed and considering quitting.
The data released by the Ontario Council of Hospitals (OCHU) and CUPE comes from a poll conducted by Nanos Research which reveals that 90 per cent of workers in northern Ontario hospitals say there is not enough staff to provide proper healthcare and nearly half are contemplating leaving their jobs within the next year amidst high stress levels, exhaustion, and anxiety.
See related: Northern Ontario nurses stressed and considering quitting according to recent poll
Fedeli counters by saying Ontario’s nurses are some of the highest paid nursing workforces in the country.
"Last year alone, our government is proud to have added 15,000 new nurses and through our Your Health plan, we are growing and supporting our healthcare workforce for years to come," said Fedeli in an email to BayToday.
"We have broken down barriers to make it easier for internationally and interprovincially educated nurses to register and practice in Ontario, expanded the Learn and Stay program to provide tuition costs to more eligible nursing students with tuition while removing financial barriers for nurses looking to upskill, creating mentorship opportunities through the Clinical Scholar Program, adding a historic 121 new nurse practitioner education seats and continuing to work with our partners to expand nurses’ scope of practice, including recent changes that will allow registered nurses to prescribe contraception and deliver more immunizations.”
Dave Verch, first vice president of OCHU/CUPE, believes the government must invest an additional $1.25 billion annually on top of inflation for the next four years to improve staffing levels and boost capacity, which he feels will help hospitals provide services for population growth and an aging-related surge in demand.
While the province talks about hiring nurses as part of a solution to the crisis, Verch believes it is not enough.
"It is the common response, they are going to say they hired 15,000 new registered nurses in the last year and enrolment is up," said Verch who traveled from Ottawa for the North Bay media event.