Ontario's Ministry of Health needs to launch a program that will proactively fight the C. difficile outbreak and not "delude" the public with a hand washing campaign, the president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions says.

Michael Hurley told CTV Toronto on Thursday that the province is focusing on the most inexpensive solution.

"Hand washing is enormously important but we have a hospital system that is operating at 97.9 per cent capacity," he said. "We're pushing people through and it's an environment where transmission of these diseases is very easy."

Hurley pointed to other jurisdictions, such as Scotland, which have hired 1,000 additional cleaners to combat the bug.

According to Hurley, the project has resulted in a 37 per cent drop in C. difficile infections.

Hurley's comments come the same day Health Minister Deb Matthews and Acting Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams held an event at Toronto General Hospital explaining the importance of handwashing in the fight against the infection that has already claimed 22 lives since the end of May.

At the event, Matthews and Williams reassured the public that Ontario hospitals are safe despite the outbreak that began at a hospital in St. Catharines on May 28 and spread from there.

There have been 44 total cases in St. Catharines, 15 at Greater Niagara General Hospital and 15 at Welland Hospital.

As a result of the outbreaks, the Niagara Health System called for a provincial infection control team to review attempts to fight the outbreak. On Tuesday, 45 recommendations were made.

They included a call for more physician and management staff devoted to infection prevention and control.

The report also highlighted the need for more cleaning staff to disinfect areas such as bathrooms in emergency wards and rooms of patients with suspected or confirmed C. difficile infections.

Hurley said these recommendations are in line with what he believes must be done if hospitals are expected to effectively combat the superbug.

These "are the areas Ontario needs to make investments and so far this communication on hand washing ignores the real root cause of this problem."

C. difficile, formally known as Clostridium difficile, is common in hospitals and long-term care facilities.

The bacterium causes diarrhea. It can be deadly in older patients who have underlying health conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease or immune system disorders.