CUPE protests outside LHSC on hospital overcrowding, funding crisis

Members of CUPE lined up outside LHSC with stretchers, symbolizing their concerns.

CUPE lined up stretchers outside London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) Friday morning, hoping to draw attention to what the union said is a health care crisis in Ontario.

“We got a quarter of a million people waiting for surgeries in hospitals like this one,” Michael Hurley, President CUPE’s Ontario Council Hospital Union (OCHU). “Eleven thousand [people] died waiting for those surgeries last year, and there are 2.5 million people without a doctor. We have 50,000 people waiting for long term care.”

The union said it is raising concerns about access to care due to growing deficits across the hospital sector.

Hurley said, based on the latest data, hospitals in Ontario faced a cumulative shortfall of $800 million in the first half of 2024-25. At London Health Sciences Centre, the shortfall was $66 million.

“We’ve got, as the stretchers point out, on any given day, 2,000 people on stretchers because there aren’t enough beds,” added Hurley.

Hurley said hospital overcrowding compromises patient and staff safety, causing delays in admitting patients, higher risk of nosocomial infections, and heavier workload. The Union hopes whomever is elected as the next provincial government next month, addresses the health care crisis.

“Health care systems funding needs to keep up with aging and population growth, and that hasn’t been the factor,” said Hurley.

The union warned of cutbacks already happening at numerous hospitals including Hamilton, Guelph, and Burlington, as they buckle under the weight of growing patient volumes and insufficient funding.