Ford government under fire over ER wait times

Calls are growing for the Ontario government to recall the legislature and deal with rising emergency room wait times.

“We’re extremely busy,” said Dr. Kashif Pirzada, an emergency room physician at one Greater Toronto Area hospital. “I walk in, there’s usually 10, 15 ambulances outside waiting to bring patients in.”

The situation is so bad that some hospitals like Markham Stouffville and Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay are advising patients to consider alternatives to the emergency room if their condition isn’t urgent.

That has opposition leaders demanding the government take action.

“Recall the legislature. Let’s get going,” said Marit Stiles, Ontario NDP leader. “What are we waiting for? People in this province expect us to be doing better.”

“I am calling for the Minister of Health and the Premier to come out of hiding and to stand where I am standing to outline their plan to immediately reduce and eliminate ER closures and ER wait times,” added Dr. Adil Shamji, Ontario Liberal Health Critic.

For the second time this week, Health Minister Sylvia Jones’s office turned down a request from CityNews for an interview. A spokesperson issued a statement that reads in part “Ontario is leading the country with some of the shortest wait times in Canada” and that the government is “investing $80 billion in our publicly funded healthcare system this year alone”.

Opposition leaders contend that staffing issues are the big problem leading to long ER wait times. One frontline doctor insists the biggest issue is simply a lack of beds.

“If you have a simple problem like a cut or a broken arm, we can get you in and out because you don’t need a bed,” said Pirzada. “If you have something more serious like a heart attack, you need a bed, you need to stay in the bed, you need a monitor. The problem is all the people who came before you are still in the hospital because we have nowhere to send you after.”

An Auditor General report released last month found that hospital wait times have grown under the Ford government. That same report also provided recommendations aimed at fixing the problem.