Since April 23rd we have seen over 53,000 medically necessary procedures delayed or cancelled, due to the under-utilization of our hospitals. The Health Minister has admitted that “about” 35 people have died while awaiting heart surgery.¹
These statistics were revealed yesterday by the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO)’s Preliminary Review on the Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Hospital Capacity.
https://www.fao-on.org/en/Blog/Publications/health-2020
In this review we also learned that over 12,000 hospital beds remain unoccupied everyday and operating rooms idled to accommodate the potential surge in COVID cases that have not materialized. The peak single day number of COVID cases in Ontario was 910 of which 264 patients occupied critical care beds across all of Ontario’s over 34,000 hospital beds.
We are denying healthcare to those we know need assistance today in order to treat a possible COVID-19 patient tomorrow. Each week this number of unattended and postponed medical procedures grows by another 12,000 patients, putting them at risk.
It is both unbelievable and unacceptable that our Government continues to allow people to be left untreated and in cases, to die, because of modeling and projections that have not materialized.
In addition, we learned yesterday that the Government refused to accept an offer of assistance from Ontario’s family physicians to help and provide care in our LTC homes where 75% of all COVID deaths have occurred.² ³ You can read more about our government's failure to use our healthcare system appropriately here: https://www.facebook.com/randy.hillier/posts/3356851694325143
I’ve heard from many people who have grandparents, mothers, fathers, uncles, brothers, sisters, and friends who are being left without medical care because someone else “may” possibly be sick tomorrow.
This has gone on long enough; we must call on all elected representatives and the Premier to open our hospitals now to those in need. There is no excuse that COVID patients cannot be isolated while necessary procedures are done elsewhere in the hospital.
If we do not heed this warning as outlined in the FAO’s review, the death rate due to under-utilized healthcare could be far greater than the deaths attributed to COVID.
Please call or email the Premier here: [email protected] or 416-325-1941
³ https://www.cp24.com/news/ontario-reports-640-new-covid-19-cases-50-new-deaths-1.4910205