NEWS RELEASE
DAVID ORAZIETTI LIBERAL CANDIDATE SAULT STE. MARIE
************************* Ontario Liberals improving health care in Sault Ste. Marie
NDP health plan means more cuts to Ontario medical schools and less support for nurses
Sault Ste. Marie - Liberal candidate David Orazietti has set the record straight on misleading claims in regards to the progress made in Ontario's health-care system under the Ontario Liberals.
"The Ontario Liberals have delivered a new hospital, signed a Group Health Centre contract, hired more nurses and reduced wait times in Sault Ste. Marie - our NDP representative failed to bring these improvements to our community in 13 years," said Orazietti. "We will continue to improve health care in this city by hiring more nurses, creating more medical school spaces and opening a nurse practitioner clinic."
The Ontario Liberals have substantially increased funding for health care in Ontario after years of service cuts under the Conservatives and the NDP.
This increased investment has had benefits for Sault Ste. Marie, including $408 million for the new Sault Area Hospital.
The NDP's recent release contained misleading information.
Reality check: health care in Ontario
- The Ontario Liberals have invested substantially to improve our province's public health-care system
- The NDP claim that Ontarians are receiving reduced health-care service which is not true.
The Ontario Liberals have:
- Hired 8,000 new nurses
- Increased medical school spaces by 23 percent - after the NDP decreased them by 13 percent
- Opened the Northern Ontario School of Medicine - the first new medical school built in Canada in 30 years
- Found a doctor for 500,000 more Ontarians
- Created 150 new family health teams
- Significantly reduced wait times for key procedures, including cancer and heart surgeries.
The NDP claim that Ontarians are receiving fewer services than they were four years ago and that's misleading.
The Ontario Liberals have:
- Provided vaccinations from chicken pox, pneumococcal disease and meningitis to children, free of charge. 1.5 million children have received these vaccinations, saving families up to $600 per child
- Ontario newborns are now screened for 28 genetic conditions (up from two under the Conservatives), making our program the most comprehensive in Canada
- Families of children with diabetes now get insulin pumps and related supplies free of charge, saving these families up to $8,700
- Seniors are getting access to more innovative prescription drugs. We invested $152 million to list new cancer-fighting drugs like Herceptin and Velcade under Ontario's Drug Benefit Plan, which means they're free to seniors and people on social assistance.
The NDP claim that they will guarantee minimum care for our seniors, increase the number of long-term care beds and reduce wait times.
The Ontario Liberals are already making these improvements to our health-care system.
The Ontario Liberals have:
- Improved care for our seniors by legislating a minimum of two baths per week, requiring a registered nurse to be on-site 24 hours a day/seven days a week, meal plans reviewed and approved by dieticians, increased the comfort allowance for the first time in 20 years and provided access to physiotherapy
- In addition to opening 4,912 new long-term care (LTC) beds, the Liberals have increased LTC funding by $773 million, Home Care funding by $400 million and funded LTC homes to hire an additional 4,900 direct care staff
- Significantly reduced wait times in a number of key areas, including: cancer surgeries - 21 percent, cardiac procedures - 60 percent for angiography and 46 percent for angioplasty, cataract surgeries - 50 percent, hip and knee replacements - 33 percent and 5 percent respectively, CT scans - 23 percent.
The Ontario Liberals will continue to improve the health-care system by hiring 9,000 more nurses, finding a doctor for 500,000 more Ontarians, delivering 50 new family health teams, creating 100 more medical spaces and opening a nurse practitioner clinic in Sault Ste. Marie.
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