OTTAWA CUPEs Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) and Ottawa health care workers, together with coalition partners, will launch the Perley Veterans Health Care Residents Deserve Better campaign at a news conference on Monday, June 11, at 1:00 p.m., at the Ottawa District Labour Council, 280 Metcalfe Street, 5th Floor. In cooperation with coalition partners, OCHU and local health care workers are fighting for adequate funding of resident care at the Perley Rideau Veterans Health Centre in Ottawa.
The residents of Ottawas Perley Rideau Veterans Health Centre should not be treated as second class citizens, says Joyce Smith, health care worker at the Perley in Ottawa. If Hamilton and Toronto residents can be spared from downgraded care, Perley Rideau Health Centre residents deserve adequate funding why should they be singled out.
The Ontario governments policy of downgrading chronic care beds to long term care beds has reduced funding for patient care from well over 200 dollars a day for chronic care, to 116 dollars a day for long term care at the Perley. Bowing to community pressure in Toronto and Hamilton earlier this year, the Ontario government overturned the downgrading of three target facilities in Toronto (Riverdale Hospital, Salvation Army Grace and Runnymede Hospitals) and one in Hamilton (St. Peters Hospital). Perley Rideau Veterans Health Centre has been downgraded by the province and funding levels have already been cut dramatically.
- WHO:
- Joyce Smith, Health Care Worker, Perley Rideau Veterans Health Ctr.
Doug Allan, CUPE Researcher (author of Chronic Care and Long Term Care Workload Survey)
Dan Benedict, Ottawa Health Coalition/Ottawa Seniors Action Network
Doug Perreault, Ottawa-District Labour Council - WHAT:
- Launch Perley Rideau Veterans Health Centre Residents Deserve Better
Campaign: News Conference to launch community-based campaign - WHEN:
- Monday, June 11, 2001, at 1:00 p.m.
- WHERE:
- Ottawa District Labour Council
280 Metcalfe Street, 5th Floor, Ottawa
For further information, please contact:
Michael Hurley, OCHU President
(416) 884-0770 cell
Doug Allan, CUPE Researcher
(416) 292-3999 - (416) 526-4497 cell
Robert Lamoureux, CUPE Communications
(416) 292-3999