In a wide-sweeping report, the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions of CUPE highlighted perceived shortcomings in Ontario\u2019s health-care system, issuing a public call-out for a funding boost<\/p>\n
Ontario\u2019s hospital system is vastly underfunded, Ontario Council of Hospital Unions of CUPE told Sudbury.com during a media event at the main branch Greater Sudbury Public Library.<\/p>\n
Between Health Sciences North and St. Joseph’s Health Centre of Sudbury, they reported a 94 per cent bed occupancy rate last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything above 85 is unsafe because it doesn\u2019t allow time for cleaning a room and leads to backups in the emergency rooms where you can\u2019t find a bed,\u201d CUPE researcher Doug Allan told Sudbury.com during the Aug. 11 media event.<\/p>\n
This, the looming threat of layoffs and various statistical changes which point to a degrading health-care system, are all evidence of underfunding, he said, estimating that Ontario\u2019s hospital system is underfunded to the tune of approximately $5 billion compared to the rest of the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Sudbury, that would mean another $105 million in funding for the hospitals and 1,079 staff,\u201d Allan said.<\/p>\n
Allan joined Ontario Council of Hospital Unions of CUPE president Michael Hurley and Francophone vice president Sue Pinel for the media event, at which they presented various numbers to highlight negative impacts which have accompanied funding cuts from the province.<\/p>\n
This, despite the province increasing funding year over year.<\/p>\n
According to the union\u2019s own numbers, funding for operation of hospitals has increased by 37.6 per cent between 2018\/19 and 2023\/24, averaging an annual increase of 6.6 per cent.<\/p>\n
On this front, the actual expenditure has exceeded the amount budgeted most years, ranging from a low of 99.1 per cent (a 0.9 per cent underexpenditure) in 2022\/23 to 127.8 per cent in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020\/21. The latest actual expenditure against the total budgeted amount was 101.7 per cent in 2025\/26.<\/p>\n
So, why claim there have been budget cuts when the province\u2019s gross expenditure has increased every year?<\/p>\n
Actual costs have exceeded these increases, which has necessitated cuts to service, the union representatives said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an aging population,\u201d Hurley said. \u201cAs the baby boom population ages, it\u2019s creating a lot of pressure on Ontario hospitals, combined with population growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the average annual increase had been 6.6 per cent, recent years have seen more modest increases of 3.1 per cent in 2024\/25, followed by 4.05 per cent in 2025\/26 and a planned 3.3 per cent increase in 2026\/27.<\/p>\n
These annual increases need to be at least six per cent, Allan said, just \u201cto maintain the quality of care we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
With actual costs outweighing budget increases, hospitals were asked to submit how they intend to balance the books within three years under what the province has called the Hospital Sector Stabilization Plan.<\/p>\n
Allan said they have received word of more than 1,300 layoff notices in Ontario so far.<\/p>\n