Ford puts health of Ontarians at risk with cuts to emergency services and Telemedicine

QUEEN’S PARK – During question period Wednesday, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath blasted Doug Ford for this latest attacks on health care — cuts to the Telemedicine Network and ambulance and paramedic services.

Municipalities report that ambulance and paramedic services will see their funding frozen at 2017 levels, and the Ontario Telemedicine Network has been forced to eliminate 44 frontline staff jobs.

“By freezing funding for ambulance and paramedics, Doug Ford is jeopardizing the emergency services that Ontarians’ lives depend on,” said Horwath. “Ford’s cuts to Telemedicine are irresponsible, and he needs to explain to the thousands of people and families across the province who rely on the services that enable them to connect with nurses and doctors why he just laid off 44 people who provide them with the care they need.

Doug Ford was clearly just making stuff up when he claimed no government employee would lose their job as a result of his cuts. That claim is about as credible as his promise that parents of children with autism would never have to demonstrate on the lawns of Queen’s Park again.”

Ford previously claimed that access to virtual medicine would expand to make up for his cuts, making these new cuts to Telemedicine even more egregious.

Ford’s cut will have a particularly devastating impact on rural and Northern Ontarians, since they rely on Telemedicine to access specialists located in Ontario's larger cities.