Mobile hospital room tour to fight superbugs in Kingston Monday.
KINGSTON, ON– Although medical experts are blaming hospital overcrowding (resulting from cuts to patient beds) for infection outbreaks – particularly outbreaks of antibiotic- resistant superbugs – the Ontario government plans to cut another 5,000 acute care beds province-wide. Currently, hospital bed occupancy is at record levels, over 97 per cent.
Studies show that healthcare-associated infections kill between 8,000 and 12,000 Canadians a year – 40 per cent of these deaths are in Ontario.
“Many of these deaths are preventable. Ontario should follow the lead of countries where hospital acquired infections have been significantly reduced by pro-active measures,” says Sharon Richer, the Vice-President of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
A mobile hospital room display will be set up for amedia conference on Monday, October 24 at 11:00 a.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 560, 734 Montreal Street, Kingston ON. Using the mobile exhibit hospital workers will demonstrate theeffective and thorough cleaning practices required to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
OCHU/CUPE’s mobile hospital room tour will be in Pembroke on October 25, in Renfrew on October 26 and in Almonte on October 27. OCHU/CUPE represents 35,000 hospital workers province-wide.
For more information, please contact:
Louis Rodrigues First VP, OCHU/CUPE (613) 531-1319
Sharon Richer Vice-President, OCHU/CUPE (705) 698-6668
Stella Yeadon CUPE Communications (416) 559-9300