ER wait-times surged at Ottawa hospitals over the past three years due to provincial underfunding: CCPA report

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OTTAWA — The majority of Ontario’s 136 hospitals including facilities in Ottawa have carried operational deficits since 2022, and this puts an already precarious public system at risk, says new analysis from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA).

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In Failure, By Design: Ontario’s deepening hospital funding crisis, CCPA Senior Researcher Andrew Longhurst finds that rising hospital costs of six percent annually and government underfunding are creating a toxic situation that undermines the goal of offering timely access to care for patients.

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“Over the last three years, our research shows that predictable increases in Ontario hospital costs are being met with consistent underfunding from the provincial government,” said Longhurst. “When hospital funding increases fall below the required six percent, the health care needs of the population go unmet. It’s a preventable crisis, and it is only deepening.”

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At a press conference in Ottawa on Friday, Longhurst said that emergency department wait-times are the canary in the coal-mine for health system performance.

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He said hospital emergency department wait-times at Ottawa hospitals (where data is available) increased significantly:

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– The Ottawa Hospital: Hospital admission wait-times increased 30 per cent over five years as 90 per cent of patients waited 43.7 hours in 2024-25. The wait for an initial assessment at the emergency department increased by 78 per cent over five years to 7.3 hours in 2024-25 (for 90 per cent of patients). The Ottawa Hospital ran deficits for two of the last three years.

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– Hopital Montfort: Hospital admission wait-times increased 40 per cent over five years as 90 per cent of patients waited 26.6 hours in 2024-25. The wait for an initial assessment at the emergency department increased by 39 per cent over five years to 5 hours in 2024-25 (for 90 per cent of patients). Hopital Montfort ran deficits each of the last three years.

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– Carleton Place & District Memorial Hospital was in deficit each of the last three years. Wait-times data was not available.

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Making the case that health care spending is insufficient, Longhurst also countered misleading claims by the Ontario government about health care, such as the finance minister’s recent statement about spending being “unsustainable.” Total Ontario health care spending merely rose to 7.6 per cent of GDP in 2023 from 7.4 per cent of GDP in 2014, said Longhurst. Even still, Ontario ranked last in per-capita hospital and total health care spending in Canada in 2023.

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The Ontario government has also suggested that the care economy is not the ‘real’ economy, yet in 2024, one in five jobs in Ontario—1.4 million jobs—were in the care economy.

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“The Ontario government’s funding austerity, and the attitudes that deride health care workers, are harmful to the workers as well as to the patients and communities who depend on their skills and commitment,” said Longhurst. “And this all contributes to deteriorating working conditions, rising vacancies among hospital staff, and now, job cuts.

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“We strongly recommend that the provincial government implement an aggressive plan to address the hospital funding and capacity crisis—rather than laying off staff. Hospitals need certainty in funding levels, which should increase by six per cent annually. Without this, the consequences are disastrous for patients.”

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Provincially, hospital admission wait-times increased 52 per cent in five years, while wait-times for an initial emergency department assessment rose 67 per cent.

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Michael Hurley, president of Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, the hospital division of CUPE, pointed out that the sharp increase in wait-times occurred before the latest round of hospital job cuts across the province including Royal Ottawa Place and Bruyere Health in Ottawa.

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“By any metric, our hospitals require a substantial increase in staffing and capacity to improve wait-times, reduce hallway medicine, and enhance the quality of patient care,” he says. “However, the government’s stubborn refusal to meet rising hospital costs is taking us backwards whereby jobs are being eliminated every day even as staffing shortages suffocate the system. The political choice to starve our public hospitals is a failure by design.”

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Contacts

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For more information, contact:

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Zee Noorsumar, CUPE Communications

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647-995-9859

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