Press Releases
Chatham-Kent-Essex MPP responds to bed closures at CKHA
July 30, 2012
(CHATHAM-KENT) – Chatham-Kent-Essex MPP Rick Nicholls said today the closing of 22 beds at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance was “a sad state of affairs” for the communities and families within the region.
“It’s immensely disappointing,” said Nicholls. “I’m urging the leadership at the Health Alliance to continue to work closely with their partners and stakeholders to do everything they can to maintain the level of service families in the area deserve, and if possible, to search in other areas for savings.”
Nicholls said despite Ontario’s health care budget being one of the largest provincial expenditures, the well-being of Ontario families seems to have taken a backseat to paying for the never-ending scandals within the Ministry of Health.
“Dalton McGuinty and his Health Minister Deb Matthews have spent months – and in the case of eHealth, years – trying to band-aid every scandal with more taxpayer money.
“The price tag for eHealth is now over $2 billion, yet this government has little to show for it. Add to that an ongoing scandal at the ORNGE air ambulance service, and it’s little wonder this Minister has been unable to focus on making Ontario’s health care system more sustainable.”
Ontariois in a fiscal crisis after nine years of overspending, said Nicholls, yet Dalton McGuinty has continually mismanaged Ontario’s funds to meet his personal priorities.
“The Minister of Energy recently admitted that $190 million was wasted purely for partisan gain with the cancellation of the Mississaugagas plant. One wonders how many hospital beds in Chatham-Kent could have stayed open with that money.”
