Doug Ford’s health care promises won’t come true without more money: FAOOUS News

Premier Doug Ford’s health care promises won’t come true without more money, Ontario’s financial watchdog says, warning the province is set to fall $21.3 billion and thousands of nurses short by 2028.

As the government put the final touches on its March 23 budget, the Financial Accountability Office (FAO) said commitments to add beds and staff in nursing homes, hospitals and home care to meet the demands of the population have growing and maturing is doomed to fail without a large capital injection.

“Challenges are expected to continue across Ontario’s health care system,” chief financial officer Peter Weltman said in a 49-page report released Wednesday.

“Even with government measures to increase the supply of nurses and PSWs (personal support workers who do most of the hands-on care in nursing homes)…FAO predicts a shortfall of 33,000 nurses and PSWs,” he added.

“These nurse and PSW shortages will undermine Ontario’s ability to sustain current programs and meet program expansion commitments.”

Weltman’s decisions are based on the fall economic statement of the Minister of Finance Peter Bethlenfalvy and last year’s regional budget, passed during the summer after the June 2 election campaign that saw Ford’s Progressive Conservatives return to power with a large majority.

The government will have to boost its health budget with new funding, either from its contingency fund, or from new federal health transfers, to meet Ford’s goals that include thousands more hospital beds, reports and added.

Local leaders reached a 10-year deal for a $46.2 billion health funding from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government on December 13.

Without action, Weltman warned that the hospital bed crunch could be worse in five years than it has been recently.

Even if the province succeeds in its plan to increase hospital capacity by 7,000 beds by (fiscal year) 2027-28, Ontario’s FAO projects it will still be 500 beds short of the estimated 7,500 beds. you need to serve the growth in demand. “

Those bed numbers include new hospital beds committed to completely eliminating 2,000 hospital beds by moving “alternate level of care” patients — mostly elderly or chronically ill Ontarians who don’t need treatment great but they are waiting in hospital beds – to beds in nursing homes or rehabilitation facilities.

But that will be a continuing challenge because there are 39,000 Ontarians on waiting lists for nursing home beds, Weltman said.

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