Underfunding is pushing Niagara’s health system to the edge; will the election trigger change?

A February 9th Nanos poll shows the number one issue for Ontarians during this snap provincial election is healthcare.

It’s an issue incumbent premier Doug Ford seems reluctant to address. While ducking reporters and avoiding interviews, Ford has remained focused on U.S. President Donald Trump and the need to protect Ontario’s economy from the impacts of any tariffs—a responsibility that almost entirely rests with the federal government.

During the 2018 provincial election Ford claimed to understand the need to improve healthcare, making a promise to end the practice of hallway medicine in Ontario hospitals. That hasn’t happened. 

According to data obtained by a freedom of information request by The Trillium, over the last seven years of PC rule, the number of patients being treated in hallways or unconventional healthcare spaces has steadily increased. In January 2024, nearly 2,000 patients per day on average were being treated in spaces other than a hospital room. 

During the leaders debate last week, Ford was asked to explain why he has failed to fulfill this promise. He provided no explanation. He also failed to provide a plan for how, if reelected, he will get Ontario’s overburdened and underfunded healthcare system back on track. 

Data obtained by The Trillium show that out of the top 10 hospital management systems in the province, Niagara Health System (NHS) has the fourth most patients being treated in hallways or unconventional spaces with a daily average of 92 between July 2017 and January 2024. 

Ford made a visit to Niagara earlier this month for a photo op with the three local mayors who have endorsed him. He was also in the region on February 19th, touring a local business with PC candidate for Niagara Falls Ruth-Ann Nieuwesteeg (who is refusing to speak to the media and did not participate in all-candidates debate during the campaign). In both visits, the over-capacity regional health system was not mentioned, despite hospital hallways, at almost any given time, being totally lined with patients waiting for beds, and nurses working short handed with one ER doctor on duty.

A large number of those patients are seniors, lying in loud, overcrowded hallways, forced to use bed pans with zero privacy.

According to Ontario Health emergency room wait times in the province average 20 hours, and Niagara hospitals are no different. It is a horrendous experience because it is understaffed by both doctors and nurses.

Data from Ontario Health show that in December 2024, Niagara’s three main hospital sites (the Marotta Family Hospital, Niagara General, and the Welland Hospital) were all operating well outside of target times for admitting patients from the ER into the hospital. None of the three sites were meeting the target time of admitting patients from the ER within eight hours. At the Marotta site, patients were waiting an average of 27.3 hours, at Niagara, 39.2 hours; and in Welland, 59.4 hours. The provincial average at that time was 19.8 hours.

The lack of funding dedicated to healthcare in the province can help explain the worsening wait times. 

A 2024 report by the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario highlighted that in 2022-2023 Ontario only spent $4,889 per capita on healthcare. That was 15.2 percent or $876 per person less than any other province in Canada. This lack of investment has pushed more and more hospitals to the financial brink, with several forced to take on multi-million deficits. 

According to the Ontario Councils of Hospital Unions (OCHU CUPE) there are 10 hospital systems that find themselves in a deficit situation for 2023-4:

• London Health Sciences: $78.1 million
• Hamilton Health Sciences: $20.4 million
• Huron Perth Health care Alliance: $3.3 million
• Niagara Health System: $9.5 million
• St. Mary’s General: $2.6 million
• Lakeridge: $36.9 million
• Kingston Health Sciences: $2.9 million
• Cornwall Community Hospital: $587,000
• North Bay Regional Health Centre: $5.5 million
• The Ottawa Hospital: $1.1 million

The Niagara Health Systems sits fourth with a deficit of $9.5 million. 

This underfunding is also one of the main factors driving staffing shortages in hospitals across the province. A CUPE report from August 2024 showed that Ontario had 18 percent less hospital staff compared to the rest of Canada. 

Data from 2024 from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) stresses the province needs 26,000 additional registered nurses just to catch up to the RN-to-population ratio in the rest of Canada

The nursing shortage in Ontario is affecting patient experience in all areas of inpatient care, emergency care, diagnostic services, medical imaging, ambulatory care, support services and operating rooms, a report from the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) states. 

Healthcare ranks as the top issue among voters this election, according to a poll from CTV and NANOS Research. 

(CTV and NANOS Research)

During the campaign, Ford has not addressed how he will close the funding gap and improve hospital staffing in the province. His key healthcare plank is a $1.8 billion commitment to connect everyone in the province with a primary care doctor.

Niagara is short approximately 106 family doctors, but that number will soon rise as 14 percent of the current doctors in the region are over 65, ensuring that the shortage of doctors will increase in the near future. According to CIHI, the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant (HNHB) area health network had 23 doctors (in total) for every 10,000 residents in 2021, less than half the per capita number in Toronto, which had 52 doctors per 10,000 residents. 

According to CIHI, in 2023 the HNHB area had 1,595 doctors practicing family medicine including 323 in general practice and 81 in emergency family medicine; 1,191 practiced family medicine. There were 3,641 doctors in total, 2,046 were specialists.

While Ford’s pledge will marginally help reduce the family doctor shortage it will not help with funding the nursing shortage. Nurses are critical to the day-to-day operation of hospitals and long term care homes.

In the riding of Niagara Falls, which also comprises the towns of Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort Erie, the lack of funding and the shortage of staff has put the local healthcare system in a difficult situation. 

In Fort Erie, Douglas Memorial Hospital is but a shell of its former self and presently only offers an urgent care site slated to close when a new hospital in south Niagara Falls opens in 2028. Presently the urgent care site operates from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Wayne Gates, the NDP incumbent in the riding, has been pushing for improved healthcare in his riding for more than a decade. In the Town of Fort Erie, Gates has been working alongside Mayor Wayne Redekop, town council, the Niagara Health Coalition, Fort Erie Healthcare SOS and the communities of Ridgeway and Crystal Beach to make sure families and seniors have access to 24/7 urgent care service at Douglas Memorial. Residents of Fort Erie have strongly disagreed with the Province's decision to close overnight services at Douglas Memorial. 

That opposition has been the message Gates has delivered at Queen’s Park many times over the past 11 years.

In Niagara-on-the-Lake, Gates, working with Mayor Gary Zalepa and town staff, successfully pushed the Province in 2024 to provide funding to bring a nurse practitioner service to the town. At the time, 8,000 residents did not have a primary care physician, and the Ministry of Health continued to drag its feet despite the need. In March 2024 it was announced that a new nurse practitioner would be joining the NOTL Health Care Clinic.

On February 10, Gates joined NDP leader Marit Stiles in Port Colborne as she announced the NDP’s plans to restore services to the Fort Erie Urgent Care, Port Colborne’s Urgent Care and Welland Hospital. 

“The Ford government has starved our healthcare system of funding, leaving us with frozen hospital budgets and shuttered emergency rooms,” Gates stated. “It’s time we had a Premier that’s on our side, that stands up for public services and provides the care you need close to home. “ 

Port Colborne, located in the Niagara Centre riding, is also at risk of losing its Urgent Care Centre that is scheduled to be closed with the opening of the new South Niagara Hospital in 2028. Residents of the town are strongly opposed to its closing and have been lobbying the Niagara Health System and the Province to leave the urgent care open. Community groups have formed and opposition signs saying 24/7 Urgent Care Now are popping up around the town.

The answer to all the healthcare problems in Niagara is supposed to be the new Regional South Niagara Hospital that is scheduled to open its doors in 2028. But the question of who will staff it given the shortage of nurses and doctors in Niagara has yet to be answered. Neither Ford, nor any of his PC candidates have explained how this new hospital will be staffed. The PC candidates have refused to answer repeated requests for comment from The Pointer.

The candidates running in the Niagara Falls riding were all asked by The Pointer: if elected, what would you do to improve healthcare in the Niagara Falls riding? 

Shafoli Kapur, running for the Liberals, said she would push for incentives to attract workers to Ontario’s healthcare sector, while improving per capita funding in order to reduce long wait times and focus on specialized types of care. 

“Niagara has a large senior population, and we need to do more to support them. Whether it’s improving home care services or making sure long-term care homes are properly staffed, seniors deserve better,” she stated. “Mental health care is another area that’s severely lacking. Too many people struggle in silence because services are either unavailable or too expensive. I would push for more funding to make mental health care accessible to everyone.

For Gates, while pushing to reverse the planned closure of Fort Erie’s urgent care centre, he says Ontario needs to stop Ford’s ongoing push to privatize the province’s healthcare system. 

“Instead, we need to invest in hiring more family doctors for Niagara, eliminate parking fees at hospitals, and address staffing shortages in order to ensure people get the quality care they deserve when they need it,” he stated. 

PC candidate Ruth Ann Nieuwesteeg did not respond to a request for comment. Green candidate Celia Taylor declined to provide comment. 

Carolynn Ioannoni is a former Niagara Falls councillor who is a regular contributor to The Pointer. She has volunteered with the Wayne Gates’ campaign this election. 

Email: [email protected]

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