QUEEN’S PARK – Today, Dr. Adil Shamji released a new report from Ontario Health revealing the ongoing and accelerating deterioration of the province’s healthcare system.
The report, which provides historical data up to September 2022, demonstrates that the crisis in Ontario’s emergency rooms has surpassed record levels. In September, emergency room length of stay (ER LOS) increased by 17.1% compared to one year prior, and ER LOS for admitted patients increased by 40.5%.
“This new report from Ontario Health reveals a stark and unsettling picture of our emergency departments and hospitals,” said Dr. Shamji, MPP for Don Valley East and Ontario Liberal Health critic. “The data shows unequivocally that, as Doug Ford and Sylvia Jones stand by and watch, our healthcare system is plummeting in real-time.”
Compared to last month’s report, the healthcare system deteriorated on nearly every measure despite lower-than-normal patient volumes. The majority of ER visits for admitted patients were completed in up to 45.2 hours, with some taking even longer. Ambulance offload times increased from 83 minutes to 90 minutes, and the daily average number of patients waiting for an inpatient bed during the month of September increased from 883.8 to 945.9.
This report clearly demonstrates that the government’s strategy announced on August 18 has failed to prevent a dramatic deterioration of the healthcare system.
“Ontarians should not have to learn about the state of our healthcare system through leaked reports,” continued MPP Shamji. “We are calling on Doug Ford and Sylvia Jones to come clean about the state of our healthcare system and explain why our emergency rooms continue to get worse under their watch.”
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