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Silas was one of a number of speakers who called on the government of Premier Kathleen Wynne to increase spending on health care in the province. North Bay, they said, is particularly hard hit because it is a P3 (public-private partnership) hospital - and because it brought three hospitals - two general and one psychiatric - under one roof. "It is time to raise the alarm," said Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition.

"This is devastating to the community, so let's raise the alarm." Mehra said people should not make the mistake of "believing that these hospital services are being replaced in so-called community care. You do not replace medical and surgical beds in community care. It's just not community care. It is acute hospital care services that are being cut. "You do not replace emergency room nurses. You do not replace cleaners in community care. Let's not buy into the nonsense that is just window dressing to cuts, cuts and more cuts to local services that are needed by the community." Michael Taylor, one of the organizers of the rally, said the cuts in North Bay are "the worst and deepest". .. that affect departments throughout the whole hospital.

Jamie Nyman was part of a large contingent from Sudbury to travel to North Bay Monday. "This is a very important issue," he said. "The government is cutting services and patient care is declining." Sudbury, he pointed out, has also seen many cuts.

"It's leaving us with too much workload," he said. "We are seeing a lot of workload issues because of cuts." Debbie McCrank from Kirkland Lake, the local co-ordinator for the Ontario Nurses Association, said the cuts are "going to impact all the North." She is responsible for the area from Kirkland Lake to North Bay, including Mattawa and West Nipissing.

The North Bay Regional Health Centre, she said, is "a major treatment centre," but the province's cuts are putting that designation at risk, and putting extra pressure on all hospitals in the North. "It's just having a huge impact," McCrank said of the health funding cuts.

"It comes down to cheaper care versus quality care," she said. "The province is driven by the budget, not by the concern for quality health care." Another supporter was Mike Labelle, a locked-out employee at Ontario Northland. "I'm here to support all the nurses and everyone on down," he said. "Health care has really deteriorated here, and it's time the government wakes up."

Labelle said the mass of protesters "is the heart of the hospital." About 100 Ontario Northland employees, he said, turned up for the rally. Canadian Union of Public Employees president Mark Hancock said the province's health care cuts amount to an attack on the local hospital and the community.

The funding freeze means hundreds of staffand beds across Northern Ontario," he said, pointing to placards waved by hospital workers from Timmins, New Liskeard and Sudbury pointing out the effects of cuts at those facilities. Hancock said health care needs a 5.8 per cent annual increase just to meet rising costs, but the freeze means hospitals are getting zero per cent. In real terms, he said, that works out to a 20 per cent cut over the life of the spending freeze.

Also speaking was North Bay Mayor Al McDonald, who said the situation at the hospital is a major concern in the city. In addition to proper health care for all members of the community, he said, the jobs being cut at the hospital are good-paying jobs, and "if you want to build the city, you need your hospital to provide the same level of care as they have in southern Ontario." Nearby, Stan Zima was waving a large Canadian flag on a 10-foot flagpole.

"It's obvious the cuts in Northern Ontario have become excessive, and especially in North Bay," he said. "We are taking big hits in this. Hospital cuts hurt everybody. "Wynne has got to get the message. Northern Ontario is suffering more than any other area." Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli, speaking at Queen's Park, called on the provincial government to address the funding crisis at the North Bay Regional Health Centre.

Health-care professionals and patients alike in my riding are concerned that the quality of care we're getting in Nipissing is in jeopardy. And it's creating turmoil in the community," Fedeli said, asking the government to restore "proper ongoing funding" to the facility.

Pj Wilson, The Nugget / Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition, addresses a crowd of close to 1,000 people at Lee Park, Monday. Supporters from across the province were in North Bay to pressure the Kathleen Wynne government into providing more funding for hospitals across the province. • Pj Wilson, The Nugget / Close to 1,000 people called for the provincial government to increase funding to Northern Ontario hospitals and, in particular North Bay Regional Health Centre, at a rally at Lee Park, Monday. Busloads of supporters came from as far as Toronto, Hamilton and Stratford to support North Bay.

The federal government is providing funding, but they're restricting it to P3 builds." With P3s, the private-sector partner assumes the lion's share of risk in terms of financing and construction. Giroux compares the P3 model to buying a house on your credit card instead of going to the bank for a lower interest rate. He said the North Bay Regional Health Centre is a prime example.

In July, Michael Hurley, president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, suggested North Bay has been hard hit by hospital cuts partly because of the province's $1-billion deal with the private sector to build, finance and maintain the North Bay Regional Health Centre. As a P3 facility, Hurley said, the North Bay hospital shoulders higher operating costs than those owned outright by the province. The hospital cuts in North Bay have probably been among the deepest in the province," he said.

Giroux raised concern about Canadore's proposal in January after the college issued a request for expressions of interest seeking a private-sector company to build, finance and operate a multi-purpose sports facility at its Commerce Court Campus. A wise person studies history to avoid repeating costly mistakes," Giroux said at that time, pointing to a report by Auditor- General Bonnie Lysyk.

Lysyk's report found that public- private partnerships have cost Ontario taxpayers nearly $8 billion more on infrastructure over the past nine years than if the government had successfully built the projects itself. The report indicated companies pay about 14 times what the government does for financing, and that they receive a premium from taxpayers in exchange for taking on the projects. Giroux suggested North Bay was learning about the costs of P3sfirsthand via cuts at the North Bay Regional Health Centre. He said the hospital was closing beds and slashing services, in no small part because of long-term P3 agreements for mortgage payments and maintenance fees."

Skyrocketing hydro rates are making Ontario less attractive to manufacturers, making it harder to replace the good jobs being lost at Bombardier or Ontario Northland, he said.

"Hydro rates started going up after Mike Harris and the Conservatives started privatizing generation, and they shot up with the Liberals' private energy deals, like the sole-source Samsung contract for wind," he said. "This will get much worse with the sale of Hydro One to private interests. We'll also lose the oversight of public accountability officers like the Auditor General." Hahn was speaking to a crowd of North Bay residents calling on Queen's Park to take action to stop the loss of good jobs and quality public services in their community.

The rally organized by the North Bay and District Labour Council, began at the Ontario Northland building, then made its way to City Hall. Speakers included Canadian Labour Congress President Hassan Yussuff, new Ontario Federation of Labour President Chris Buckley, NDP MP Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay), NDP MPP John Vanthof (Temiskaming-Cochrane) and Sharon Richer, vice-president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions

"It's Kathleen Wynne listened to Ontarians. Almost 85 percent of the public and 194 municipalities oppose the Hydro One sell-off," said Hahn. "The Liberals need to listen to the people, not to Bay Street. We need quality public services and good jobs in our communities. We need at-cost, not-for-profit electricity. We need profitable corporations to pay their fair share so working-class people don't pay any more for disastrous Liberal austerity and privatization schemes."

CUPE is Ontario's community union, with more than 250,000 members providing quality public services we all rely on, in every part of the province, every day. CUPE Ontario members are proud to work in social services, health care, municipalities, school boards, universities and airlines.

Shawn Shank, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 139 which represents hundreds of front-line hospital staff, said unions expect to be notified within four weeks of the impact to personnel. This announcement has caused more anxiety in the workplace," he said. Now that people have heard that 158 number they are wondering if they are within that 158." According to the council, recently released health data shows an increase in patient readmission rates for North Bay in each year of the provincial funding freeze.

The re-admission spikes signal that the hospital is pushing patients out of hospital faster and faster and before they are well. Patients are being sent home and then re-admitted, acutely ill and often requiring longer, more costly hospital stays. Many individuals are paying with their health for a community hospital that isn't funded properly," Hurley said. Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli took the government to task in the Ontario Legislature Wednesday afternoon. Fedeli blasted the Liberals in a member's statement for putting the health care of Nipissing residents at even greater risk. Today is an incredibly distressing day in my riding, especially for those people who rely on health services provided at the North Bay Regional Health Centre," he stated.

Today, a further 158 full-time staff at our hospital learned that their jobs are being cut by this government and more than half of those employees were nurses. This is in addition to the 197 front-line health care workers already cut at this hospital - again the majority of them were nurses. Speaker, that's 350 frontline health care workers that are gone." Fedeli said the Liberals are also closing 30 beds in addition to the 30 they already closed at the fiveyear- old hospital. This is not only devastating to the front-line health care workers, but more so for their patients, who are now rightfully concerned about access to the quality health care they need and deserve," he said.

The Liberal government has clearly put self-interest ahead of the health care of Northerners. This much I want to make clear, Speaker -we, the people of Nipissing, will not stand for this. We're fed up with the scandals that leave us to pay the price." j.hamilton-mccharles@sunmedia.ca

NUGGET FILE PHOTO • The elimination of 158 full-time equivalent positions at the North Bay Regional Health Centre brings the total loss of front-line health care workers to 350, Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli stated Wednesday in the provincial legislature.

Interested proponents have have until Jan. 28 to submit their expressions of interest to the college. Canadore president and chief executive officer George Burton could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon. But the 14-page request issued earlier this month indicates the city is supporting the P3 initiative. The Corporation of the City of North Bay wishes to investigate a partnership with Canadore College through a private-public partnership in relation to a twin-pad arena option," the document states. With the support from the City of North Bay, Canadore College is seeking a partner to build, finance and operate a multi-purpose sports facility. The successful proponent is expected to enter into a long-term land lease arrangement where a multipurpose facility would be constructed." The college is looking for the facility to offer a turf field, twin ice pads, rubberized flooring, a walking or jogging track, concessions and change rooms. Some of the activities Canadore would like these facilities to accommodate include soccer, hockey, figure skating, ringette, rugby, touch football, ultimate Frisbee, basketball, volleyball, baseball, tennis, weight room and golf. The facility would service the local and regional communities, as well as Canadore College students.

McIntyre said these cuts are impacting nurses with five to 12 years experience. “We're losing a huge amount of experience and dismantling mental health,” she said Wednesday.

She said there's concern the hospital is using personal support workers to replace RPNs, which will affect inpatient quality of care.

Karen Bennett, vice-president of addictions, mental health and senior services at the North Bay Regional Health Centre, said union members weren't the only ones impacted by the recent wave of cutbacks.

She said several non-union positions were eliminated. When asked how many, Bennett said, she didn't have an exact number or how much was saved.

Every year there has been an increase, but it's health care facilities and hospitals who make the decisions on how they're going to staff." "She is completely wrong," Hurley replied in a release. "Blame goes to her government's health policies and too low funding for hospitals. "Throwing hospital administrators under the bus for provincial government funding decisions is, in our view, unprincipled."

North Bay's hospital, built as a private-public partnership (P3) facility, is more expensive to operate than a typical hospital, Hurley said. During the 2003 election, the provincial Liberal's promised to cancel the North Bay P3 and to build the hospital as a publicly owned entity. "They reneged on that promise and yet have provided no special support for the significantly higher costs of this model. Now they are blaming them for cuts," said Hurley.

OCHU says successive Ontario Liberal health ministers have made no bones about downsizing hospital care. Since the Liberals were elected over a dozen years ago, funding for hospitals has fallen compared to other provinces. In the past several years, Ontario hospital funding "has lagged well behind the cost pressures associated with an aging population and inflation, OCHU says. This too low funding - well under the hospitals' real operating costs - has resulted in serious cuts to staff and services at North Bay and many other hospitals province-wide.

That's the root of blame for hospital staffing and program cuts," said Hurley. Provincial funding at its current levels has meant that in the past five years alone, North Bay has cut $20.7 million, OCHU says. The 2016 provincial budget gives hospitals a one per cent increase, it adds. However costs, driven by drugs and medical technologies will be closer to four per cent, "so another round of cuts is coming. It is completely unfair and below the premier to blame the managers of the hospital for this," said Hurley.

Wynne said the province is in the midst of a transformation of health care. "People want health care at home. People are looking for care for themselves and for their parents or grandparents. They want to know we are going to continue to invest in home care."

When asked what types of investment the province will commit to long-term care, Wynne acknowledged there are gaps in long-term care beds. "A review of the province's longterm care beds has been done by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and decisions will be out soon." © 2016 Postmedia Network Inc. All rights reserved.

The update features additional anecdotal experiences of patients who have been let down by the health care system as a result of issues such as understaffing, overcrowding, early discharge and insufficient community support or home care. It also focuses specifically on cuts in the North. The report indicates that cutbacks in North Bay, which is the first stop of the campaign, include the closure of an eight-bed mental health rehabilitation unit and more than 56 positions -representing an estimate of more than 50,000 nursing care hours per year, affecting departments throughout the facility.

Although the local hospital has indicated resources are being transferred to the community, Hurley suggested such transfers do not commensurate with the cutbacks and often come at the expense of acute care services. "With the cuts that are happening across Northern Ontario, this is only going to get worse," said Richer, who share some the anecdotal experiences of patients included in the report. One account was that of an elderly man who had suffered a stroke and whose family believed he had been discharged too soon from hospital and did not receive adequate physiotherapy. Although the family struggled to pay for some private therapy, but the man never regained the ability to walk and died within two years of his stroke.

Hurley said hospitals have been forced to make cuts because they are now in the fourth year of a five-year freeze on their budgets. And he said estimates cited by the auditor general calculate that hospitals need a 5.8% increase annually to meet their basic costs. The report calls for the reopening of chronic and alternate level of care beds, a halt to the closure of acute care beds, adequate hospital funding, hospital reinvestment, the elimination of fees for home care, therapies and services and a move away from private for-profit home care, long-term care and pharmaceuticals. Hurley said the OCHU is also preparing to file a complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Commission of discrimination in the health care system against the elderly when it comes to acute care services.

The report, entitled Pushed out of Hospital, Abandoned at Home, chronicled the experiences of hundreds of patients and their families from more than 30 Ontario communities who called a 1-800 patient hotline set up for a year by the OCHU and Ontario Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists. The update features additional anecdotal experiences of patients who have been let down by the health-care system as a result of issues such as understaffing, overcrowding, early discharge and insufficient community support or home care. It also focuses specifically on cuts in the North.

The report indicates that cutbacks in North Bay, which is the first stop of the campaign, include the closure of an eight-bed mental health rehabilitation unit and more than 56 positions - representing an estimate of more than 50,000 nursing care hours per year, affecting departments throughout the facility. Although the local hospital has indicated resources are being transferred to the community, Hurley suggested such transfers do not commensurate with the cutbacks and often come at the expense of acute care services. With the cuts that are happening across Northern Ontario, this is only going to get worse," said Richer, who shared some the anecdotal experiences of patients included in the report.

One account was that of an elderly man who had suffered a stroke and whose family believed he had been discharged too soon from hospital and did not receive adequate physiotherapy. Although the family struggled to pay for some private therapy, the man never regained the ability to walk and died within two years of his stroke. Hurley said hospitals have been forced to make cuts because they are now in the fourth year of a five-year freeze on their budgets. And, he said, estimates cited by the auditor general calculate that hospitals need a 5.8% increase annually to meet their basic costs. The report calls for the reopening of chronic and alternate level of care beds, a halt to the closure of acute care beds, adequate hospital funding, hospital reinvestment, the elimination of fees for home care, therapies and services and a move away from private for-profit home care, long-term care and pharmaceuticals. Hurley said the OCHU is preparing to file a complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Commission of discrimination in the health-care system against the elderly when it comes to acute care services.

This government needs to stop letting bankers like Ed Clark drive the bus. They don't have the best interest of Ontarians at heart," said Hahn. Instead, he said, the government should restore corporate tax cuts, which former Premier Dalton McGuinty bragged amount to $8 billion a year. They should invest in public services that create good jobs and stimulate the economy in every community across the province. "The Liberals have a choice to make," said Hahn. "Stop the cuts that are dragging our economy down, or face the thousands of people they've left unemployed during the next election." CUPE is Ontario's community union, with more than 250,000 members providing quality public services we all rely on, in every part of the province, every day. CUPE Ontario members are proud to work in social services, health care, municipalities, school boards, universities and airlines.

Craig Saunders (416) 576-7316

These cuts have gone too far." Mehra said CUPE has won similar battles. For example, she said 60 beds were returned to a Windsor hospital. The North Bay Regional Health Centre is doing what it can get away with," she said. We can win this, but we're going to have to raise our voices." CUPE said it will announce details of the rally next month.

There are far fewer emergency room visits," she says. "This means that in privatizing a long-term care home, a municipality is likely to be transferring higher costs to the health-care system. "They are actually creating more costs for taxpayers, while also reducing publicly held assets." Braedley will be the guest speaker at a CUPE-hosted community forum June 7 in North Bay. The forum will be held at 7 p.m. at the Discovery North Bay Museum.

A report from KPMG recommends Cassellholme’s board, which wants to move forward with a $60-million redevelopment, looks at becoming a not-for-profit facility. That would see member municipalities eventually divest themselves of the home and their financial contributions toward it. A subcommittee - with the help of an outside consultant - has been tasked with reviewing the KPMG recommendations. The review will be used to develop a proposal that - if supported by the board - will then go to member municipalities for approval.

generations."

Giroux said he will make presentations to all nine municipal councils which contribute to Cassellholme’s operations to urge them to keep the facility in public hands. “What we are saying is, ‘This is our home,’” Giroux said.”This is the home we own. People should be proud of it.”

The biggest difference, he said, is that if a municipally owned facility needs more operating funds, it can turn to the municipal councils and ask for it. Other facilities have to approach the province for any extra funding.

We need to stabilize the situation in Attawapiskat in terms of making sure they have the health support they need,” Mr. Angus (Timmins-James-Bay, Ont.) told The Hill Times last week. “We need a plan to get people who are needing help in any of the communities to get that help.”

A rash of attempted suicides prompted Mr. Angus, who’s also the NDP critic for indigenous and northern affairs, to call for an emergency debate on the ongoing suicide crisis in the James Bay community of about 2,000. As a result, the House of Commons convened until midnight last Tuesday for an emotionally charged discussion on mental health services following a string of incidents in northern reserves in recent months. Several MPs choked up during their statements, recounting suicide incidents in their ridings and personal lives.

Sometimes partisan politics need to be put aside and members need to come together to find solutions to prevent another unnecessary loss of life,” Conservative MP Todd Doherty (Cariboo-Prince George, B.C.) said during the debate. NDP MP Georgina Jolibois (Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River, Sask.) said the suicide rate went up in her home community of La Loche in northern Saskatchewan after a shooting spree that killed four people last January.

Liberal MP Robert-Falcon Ouellette (Winnipeg Centre, Man.) recalled visiting the northern Manitoba Pimicikamak Cree Nation, which declared a state of emergency over a series of suicide attempts last month.

Mr. Angus made an emotional appeal to action in his opening remarks during the emergency debate. “We have to end the culture of deniability whereby children and young people are denied mental health services on a routine basis, as a matter of course, by the federal government,” he said. Eleven people attempted to take their lives in Attawapiskat two Saturdays ago, prompting the First Nation to declare a state of emergency—the fourth one since 2006. There has been more than 100 suicide attempts in the reserve since the month of September, many of which involved children. The community has been plagued by flooding and several housing crises in recent years.

Eighteen mental health workers were dispatched to Attawapiskat on Tuesday, including two counsellors, one crisis worker, two youth support workers, and one psychologist. While there is no set timeline, they’re not expected to leave for at least two weeks, said Health Canada assistant deputy minister Keith Conn during a teleconference last week.

Some of the people treated for mental health problems last week had previously been airlifted out of the community for assessment before being sent back after their examination, according to Mr. Conn. This past Tuesday, at least 13 people, including a nine-year-old child, had made plans to overdose on prescription pills as part of a suicide pact. The Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service apprehended them before sending them to the local hospital for a mental health assessment.

Mr. Conn said he’s heard criticism of the mental health assessment process from Attawapiskat First Nation Chief Bruce Shisheesh. Individuals who are identified as likely to commit suicide are typically sent to a hospital in Moose Factory, Ont., to be psychologically evaluated by a psychologist or psychiatrist. They are then discharged and sent back to the community, where some try to take their life again. Mr. Conn said Health Canada does not “control the process,” but he personally committed to review the mental health assessment effectiveness.

No federally funded psychiatrists were present in the region prior to the crisis, despite reserve health-care falling under the purview of the federal government. Mr. Conn said the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority (WAHA), a provincial health unit servicing communities on the James Bay coastline, is usually responsible for the Attawapiskat First Nation following an agreement struck with the federal government about 10 years ago.

A mental health worker position for the reserve has been vacant since last summer, in part because there’s a lack of housing for such staff. The community has been left without permanent, on-site mental health care services. Since then, the position has been filled by someone already living on reserve. During the emergency debate in the House last week, Health Minister Jane Philpott (Markham-Stouffville, Ont.) emphasized the need for short- and long-term responses to the crisis.

We need to address the socio-economic conditions that will improve indigenous people’s wellness in addition to ensuring that First Nations and Inuit have the health care they need and deserve,” she said. Ms. Philpott pointed to the Liberal government’s budget, which includes $8.4-billion for “better schools and housing, cleaner water, and improvements for nursing stations.”

“Our department and our government are ensuring that all the necessary services and programs are in place,” she said during the debate. “We are currently investing over $300-million per year in mental wellness programs in these communities.” Yet, Mr. Angus said the budget includes “no new mental health dollars” for First Nations communities. In addition to allocating more funds for mental health services to indigenous communities, Mr. Angus said there needs to be a concerted effort to bring in the aboriginal youth in the conversation.

We need to bring a special youth council together,” he told The Hill Times on Wednesday. “We need to have them be able to come and talk to Parliament about their concerns, so we’re looking at those options now.” Emotion was audible in Mr. Angus’ voice when he read letters he received from Aboriginal youth during the emergency debate, which expressed a desire to work with the federal government to solve the crisis.

The greatest resource we have in this country is not the gold and it is not the oil; it is the children,” he said. “The day we recognize that is the day that we will be the nation we were meant to be.” Mr. Angus met with Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett (Toronto—St. Paul’s, Ont.) earlier in the week to discuss potential long-term solutions to the suicide crisis. “I’ve always had an excellent relationship with Carolyn Bennett, and as minister we’re trying to find ways to work together on this, to take the tension down, to start finding solutions,” Mr. Angus said. Mr. Angus criticized “Band-Aid” solutions that have been thrown at First Nations issues over the years and said there needs to be a “transformative change” this time.

That’s where we have to move beyond the positive language to actually the brass tacks,” he said. During the emergency debate, Mr. Angus supported the idea of giving more resources to frontline workers such as on-reserve police, and health and treatment centres. 0eMr. Angus’ riding sprawls from shores of the Hudson Bay to the Timiskaming district on the border with Quebec, an area roughly equivalent in land size to that of Guinea. He holds two constituency offices in Timmins and Kirkland Lake.