Ontario spending on private nursing agencies has more than quadrupled since pandemic began
The use of private nursing agencies to fill staffing gaps in Ontario hospitals has more than quadrupled since the pandemic began.
The figures are laid out in an arbitration decision for hospital nurses represented by the Ontario Nurses' Association released last week.
Chair William Kaplan says that in 2020-21, hospitals reported spending $38,350,956 on agency nurses. By 2022-23 that cost had exploded to $173,669,808.
"The vast expansion of overtime and agency nurse usage – demonstrated by a truly astonishing growth in both – establishes a true recruitment and retention problem," Kaplan writes of the extra hours in his July 20 decision.
He explains that hospitals are paying agency nurses double or triple rates for contract nurses because it's the only way for hospitals to meet their staffing needs with compensation "a, if, not the, key driver in attracting employees."
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
A spokesperson for Health Minister Sylvia Jones insists the hours worked by agency nurses are dropping and represent less than two percent of all hours work in Ontario hospitals.
Jones described nursing agencies as a tool to help hospitals when plans change.
It just speaks to the fact that when we have hospitals partners who are able to react and respond to increase community needs, they have the ability to do that," Jones told reporters in Kitchener Monday.
Kaplan's arbitration decision awarded ONA members an 11 percent wage increase spread over two years.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
NEW Iconic Canadian song turns 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Prince Harry, Meghan arrive in Nigeria to champion the Invictus Games and meet with wounded soldiers
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, arrived in Nigeria on Friday to champion the Invictus Games, which he founded to aid the rehabilitation of wounded and sick servicemembers and veterans, among them Nigerian soldiers fighting a 14-year war against Islamic extremists.
Countries struggle to draft 'pandemic treaty' to avoid mistakes made during COVID
After the coronavirus pandemic triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions, leaders at the World Health Organization and worldwide vowed to do better in the future. Years later, countries are still struggling to come up with an agreed-upon plan for how the world might respond to the next global outbreak.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Flat tire on a highway? Here's why you shouldn't try to fix it
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.
Broadcaster and commentator Rex Murphy dead at 77: National Post
The National Post is reporting that Rex Murphy, the pundit and columnist who hosted a national call-in radio show for decades, has died.