In the last in a series of articles presented by CambridgeToday, in which candidates in the Kitchener South-Hespeler and Cambridge ridings explain how they will address key issues if they are successful in the upcoming election, we ask:
What gaps in our healthcare system did you see during the pandemic and how would you fix them?
You can view the full series of articles by clicking the Ontario Votes widget on our homepage.
Candidates whose answers do not appear below did not respond to our request.
Belinda Karahalios - New Blue - Cambridge
Late in 2021, I found out that St. Joseph’s hospital was offering early treatment for COVID-19. It is a shame that for most of our experience with COVID-19 early treatment was not widely and readily available for Ontarians.
It is also completely negligent that the Ford PC government did not promote early treatment and only made it available to those with certain pre-requisites. Early treatment would have saved lives but the Ford PCs chose the theatrics of mandates and lockdowns instead, which did nothing to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Brian Riddell - PC - Cambridge
We inherited a system that was broken and unable to deal with a global pandemic. In response, we increased healthcare spending from $59.3 billion in 2019-2020 to an expected $64.1 billion in 2021-22, bringing on more beds, hiring more nurses and PSWs, and investing more in home seniors’ care.
Carla Johnson - Green - Cambridge
I am proud to say that Mike Schreiner, the Leader of the Green Party of Ontario, has been repeatedly called on the Ford government to repeal Bill #124. The pandemic placed enormous, unprecedented stresses on our hospitals. Instead of supporting our nurses, the Ford government limited their voice and their wages with this destructive bill.
The Green Party of Ontario will make protecting our public health institutions a priority. The GPO is clear it will do the following:
• Conduct an independent public inquiry into the Government of Ontario’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic that will offer recommendations on preventative measures to reduce harm in the case of future health crises.
• Designate the Chief Medical Officer of Health as an independent officer of the legislature in a watchdog role comparable to that of provincial auditors, with annual publicly available reporting.
• Enhance the ability of Public Health Ontario to carry out its mandate by ensuring robust public health science and laboratory support. • Provide adequate and predictable funding to ensure future pandemic preparedness.
• Stockpile three months’ supply of personal protective equipment for all healthcare facilities in the province.
Surekha Shenoy - Liberal - Cambridge
Gaps in our healthcare system identified during the pandemic include: quality standards for our long-term care system, staffing and infection control support for acute care, limited mental health services and funding for acute care beds in community hospitals.
The Liberal Party that will make much-needed investments to clear the surgical backlog, reduce wait times for mental health services, and support modernized care for everyone. Our Liberal team includes doctors, nurses and hospital leadership.
To guard against future risks, we will permanently increase lab testing capacity, stockpile rapid tests and PPE, and build a pandemic resilience hub that must be reviewed and updated annually.
We are proposing a transformation that will guarantee that any senior who needs care in their own home gets it.
We will fund 15,000 new assisted living homes – including small, accessible and community-based residential services that provide a comprehensive continuum of care.
We’ll help 400,000 more seniors get home care with a $2 billion annual investment by 2026. We will end for-profit long-term care with a target of 2028. We will place audits, inspections and zero-tolerance sanctions on long-term care homes that endanger their residents.
Ontario Liberals will treat seniors with the dignity and care they deserve. Similarly, we will repeal Bill 124 and ensure that mental health services are available for all health care professionals.
We’ll train and hire 100,000 nurses, doctors and other health care workers over the next six years as we replace retiring workers and expand our system.
Marjorie Knight - NDP - Cambridge
The pandemic revealed the gaps in our long-term care system that failed our seniors and put workers at risk. More than 4,000 people died, alone and in pain. We must never go back to the way things were — where our parents and grandparents were left to live and die in horrible conditions.
Decades of privatization allowed big corporations to warehouse seniors in institution-like facilities. They cut corners on staffing and care in order to pocket bigger profits.
The Ontario NDP has a plan to overhaul home care and long-term care, bringing in a new, public system. Within eight years, we’ll make the entire system public and not-for-profit, create 50,000 new spaces, and end the wait for home care and long-term care. We will build small, modern, family-like homes staffed with full-time, well-paid, well-trained caregivers instead of the revolving door of temporary agency workers and staff run off their feet. These homes will have culturally appropriate resources and training for home and community care programs. This will give our loved ones a better quality of life, instead of taking it away.
David Weber - Green - Kitchener South-Hespeler
Mental Health care has been a gap in our health care system for decades, and clearly worsened during COVID. The lack of resources to help those in need is a major factor in self-medicating, drug addiction, involvement in crime to support drug habits, response of police resources, courts and jails.
We must have mental health and drug addictions be a separate ministry, receiving 10 per cent of our health care budget, and be covered under OHIP.
The Greens have been calling for this for many years, which is one reason I left my previous support for the Conservatives and became a Green Party supporter ten years ago. In my policing career, I became enlightened that it was very costly for us to not address root causes of problems.
To put some money into helping people early, is better for them, helps reduce ongoing costs of doing nothing to truly help, and addressing the problems improves the overall quality of our community as well. The idea of saving tax dollars by not helping, has many more dollars spent in band-aid responses while leaving the illness to remain.
Joanne Weston - NDP - Kitchener South-Hespeler
The pandemic exposed how broken our healthcare system is, with too many people waiting hours at the ER, for a doctor’s appointment or for surgery. People should not have to wait in pain to see a doctor or receive the surgery they need to relieve pain. Nurses, doctors and other health professionals are run off their feet trying to meet patients’ needs and reduce the backlog of surgeries.
The NDP is committed to investing in healthcare, not cutting like successive governments have done. We will invest in hiring staff to clear the backlog of surgeries. We will repeal Bill 124 that is driving nurses away from the profession.
We will invest in healthcare upstream of hospitals by broadening OHIP to include mental health care and introduce dental care and universal pharmacare. These investments will give people support they need so they don’t end up in hospitals, reducing the burden on the hospital system.
