‘It’s going to bankrupt health care’: Spending on temp agency nurses up more than 550% since pre-pandemic at one Toronto hospital network.
The Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) and Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) both reported this week that costs for health care services for the past two years have increased more than 550 per cent between 2017/18 and 2018/19.
What’s more, the OHA and ONA report that the province’s largest hospitals, which together employ close to 40,000 of Ontario’s almost 100,000 health care workers, made up almost half of all Ontario nursing agency wages in 2018.
The ONA and the OHA reported in mid-month that they have had to lay off a total of 1,717 agency nurses in 2018. The ONA also revealed that about 90 percent of its 1,717 nurses who were laid-off this year were unionized.
Despite the loss of key staff members, the OHA still told clients that they are able to deliver essential health care services to 1.2 million patients each year at 70 medical facilities.
The union spokesperson, Paul-Philippe Champagne, told the Canadian Press that nurses have “more patients per nurse on average in the last several days than we’ve had in the last several months.”
The ONA spokesperson, Kevin Vokes, told reporters that while there is “good news,” the union was “worried and disappointed” by the province’s “reckless” decision to bring in temp agencies to fill in for agency staff.
“We’re concerned about the health and safety of our members,” Vokes said.
The OHA and ONA report that the province’s largest hospitals, which together employ close to 40,000 of Ontario’s roughly 100,000 health care workers, made up almost half of all Ontario nursing agency wages in 2018. The ONA