The Council of Canadians Brockville chapter attended a rally today against cutbacks at the Brockville General Hospital. Earlier this month, The Brockville Recorder and Times reported that the protest march would make its way from the Garden Street site to the main Charles Street site of the hospital.
An Ontario Council of Hospital Union/CUPE media release notes, “The hospital is cutting services and closing its laundry, in the face of a 5-year funding freeze imposed by the provincial Liberal government. Hospitals need 6% increases in funding each year just to keep pace with their costs, which are rising faster than the general rate of inflation due to the costs of drugs, medical technologies and doctors’ salaries. The freeze has cut Brockville General Hospital’s budget by 24% in real terms.”
In early April, The Brockville Recorder and Times also reported that, “BGH [Brockville General Hospital] officials announced the hospital is eliminating ‘just over six full-time equivalent, non-clinical positions’, leading to budget savings of $425,000. BGH president and chief executive officer Tony Weeks said further cuts cannot be ruled out as management must find another $1.9 million in this new fiscal year to balance the budget.”
Ontario Council of Hospital Unions/CUPE activist Louis Rodrigues says, “Brockville General Hospital has strong support in the community and we hope to organize that support to put pressure on the Liberal government. Other communities that have spoken up strongly have been successful in getting urgently needed funding from the provincial government.”
A town hall meeting will be held in Brockville on May 28, Brockville city council is being lobbied to adopt a resolution that would urge the hospital to rethink its decisions, and a regional rally in Ottawa is being planned.
You can find out more about the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions/CUPE campaign at their website here.
For information on the Council of Canadians health care campaign, please click here.
Photo: Twitter photo by Ronald Zajac.
