Ottawa Citizen letters - Aug 13,2022
ER closures are not ‘normal,’ minister
Re: Ontario ER closures not unprecedented, health minister says, Aug. 8.
What a relief hearing from provincial Health Minister Sylvia Jones that ER closures are not unprecedented. We’ve failed Ontarians in the past so what’s the big deal if we are doing it again? Very comforting.
The motto in the Ontario Health Ministry must be “Strive for mediocrity.” In order to serve you better, we’ve closed this ER; please drive 80 kms to the next nearest overcrowded ER as it may be open. Best of luck.
True story: a few years ago, the notice on the door of our local bank branch said that exact thing: “In order to serve you better, we’ve closed this branch.” It must be spreading!
Garry Logue, Ottawa
What universe is the health minister living in?
Gee, I didn’t think the nurses in Ontario were all on vacation. I thought they were so overworked and underpaid that nobody wants to be a nurse anymore. I’m so glad the minister has told us the truth as she sees it from the planet she lives on far away.
Jean Currie, Ottawa
Don’t trash the single-payer system
Health Minister Sylvia Jones appears on track to continue underfunding nursing and other forms of health care and promoting private care. Decent health care can never be cheap. Fix the current single-payer system; don’t trash it.
David Palframan, M.D., Ottawa
Paramedic rules are just stupid
The biggest problem with the health-care system is that it is run by the government, which is more concerned about rules and regulations than about efficient and effective service.
Take, for example, the issue of having zero ambulances available. This is because of a stupid rule requiring paramedics (and their ambulances) to sit idle until a hospital worker takes over a patient. In one case I was waiting in hospital with my wife and there were 10 paramedics in the hallway with five patients. They were there for more than two hours. Once the hospital takes over, one or two nurses look after these five patients.
Why not have a pair of paramedics look after these patients until they are handed over? I hope that someone who cares reads this.
Greg Cameron, Ottawa
What will it take to change views on nursing?
I don’t believe many of the registered nurses from the 1980s and ’90s are still practising. So, few will remember when pay equity was the big issue.
We nurses felt we should have pay parity with police officers. No such luck. Word was, we were compared to pastry chefs. Unfortunately, nursing is still female-dominated and I don’t think it is any more valued today than in the 1990s.
I don’t know what it will take to get nurses the recognition on all levels — pay, benefit, equity and respect — they deserve. Perhaps if the whole health system gets nearer to total collapse, views will change among those in charge.
Mary Sue Boyle (proud graduate of Toronto General Hospital 1968), Kemptville
Why people are leaving nursing careers
The Citizen has carried numerous examples of the challenges facing nurses. I heard an example that sets out starkly the choice one nurse made. She left her profession to become a painter with a drywall and painting company. She is happy with her decision. The hours are regular, the pay is roughly what she had been earning and when she finishes her work day, it does not stay with her.
Gerry Van Kessel, Gatineau
Fill health-care gaps with ‘dreamers’
While Canada’s health-care spending is in line with other democracies, our results are not. Only the Americans make us look good.
We spend much more than most on administration, but we penny-pinch with nurses, beds and equipment. Wait times are horrible. ER rooms are shut down. Ambulances line up, unable to drop off patients. Nurses are leaving in droves. Thousands of jobs remain vacant. All the provinces ever do is demand more money from the federal government. But money alone will not bring our nurses back. In the long run, the health system needs a total overhaul.
Ultimately, we need a true national public health-care system, just like most other democracies. They are more efficient, effective and accountable. Of course, that would take years. In the short term, we urgently need more doctors and nurses.
Want a quick solution? In the U.S., some 280,000 health-care workers are so-called “dreamers” — undocumented immigrants. All “dreamers” by definition, have lived in the U.S. for many years with unblemished records. They are losing hope. Canada could offer them what they dream about: a job, respect and fast citizenship.
Patrick Esmonde-White, Ottawa
Related video: ER closures, wait times impacting essential care for CanadiansDuration 2:14 View on Watch
A little context on those teacher comparisons
Re: Letter, Let’s compare teachers, nurses, Aug. 8.
I heartily concur with the writer’s comments about the working conditions for nurses in Ontario. Improvement is essential, particularly in wages. I would like to clarify and add some reality, however, to her comments about the teaching profession.
She stated that teachers have three paid professional days, as if this were some kind of holiday. Not so. Professional days are working days, and they represent a very small part of the professional development that teachers pursue regularly, on their own dime.
Yes, the mandated working day for teachers is five hours, but that is five hours in front of a class, working with groups and individuals, often with very high numbers of students. Readers should have some understanding of the countless hours that go into preparing for the delivery of programs to address the learning needs of diverse students. This requires hard-earned skills and knowledge, and working nights and weekends to meet the needs of students in that five-hour class window. As for accountability, performance reviews are done every year.
The nursing profession in Ontario has been profoundly undervalued and this must be addressed. But please have a more accurate understanding of the workload teachers carry before making comparisons.
Jan Secord, Ottawa
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