Ontario nurses stage dramatic protest in the style of a graveyard

A dramatic display occurred today (Nov. 14) as members of the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) staged a protest styled like a graveyard.

The demonstration occurred at the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) headquarters in Toronto and featured ONA members holding signs shaped like headstones, specifically designed to represent the ‘dead positions’ for nurses and healthcare professionals.

According to the ONA, this mass shortage in available potions and working hours is due to pressure from Ontario hospital CEOs to decrease staffing levels at public hospitals.

“Hospital CEOs and the Ford Conservatives are working together to funnel our public money to private clinics that benefit their interests, while public care suffers. Without RN staffing ratios, public hospitals will continue to lose staff to the private sector, making this crisis worse and timely care near impossible,” said Erin Ariss, RN and President of the ONA.

An official report supplied by the ONA has indicated that Ontario bolsters the worst nurse-to-patient ratio in the country and that instead of staffing public hospitals, the Ford administration seeks to expand private clinics.

ONA representatives indicate that this behavior will, in turn, draw staff away from the public healthcare sector and worsen the ongoing understaffing crisis.

“We remember a time when public hospital staffing was better when nurses and healthcare professionals had time to provide the care patients need and deserve,” stated Ariss. “We know a different future is possible for public hospital care and that starts with staffing ratios. Safe staffing saves lives.”

For more information on the ONA, visit their official website.