Queen’s Park, April 19, 2018 – London West MPP Peggy Sattler called on the Liberal government to remove the arbitrary caps on surgical procedures and admit that Liberal funding cuts have broken Ontario’s health care system, after being contacted by two London seniors who are suffering because of unacceptable surgery wait-times.
“Eleanor Varga lives in London West and is 73 years old, She has been waiting two years for hip surgery and has developed fractured vertebrae as a result,” said Sattler. “Her hip is bone-on-bone and because she can’t take pain medication, she lives with excruciating pain.” Varga says she was once “a vibrant, energetic person who has become a broken, pain-ridden senior citizen, as a result of the government underfunding hip surgeries.”
Another London West senior, Beverley Garlough, asked Sattler “how did healthcare in Ontario become so broken?” Now 65 years old, Garlough was forced to wait an entire year for referral to an orthopedic surgeon, which is twice the provincial wait time target. She then learned that it would be at least another year and a half before her hip surgery could be performed.
“That is three times the provincial wait time target,” Sattler said. “Beverley now has to walk with a cane. She can no longer work, or carry out her usual activities, like spending time with her grandchildren.
“Will the Premier admit that it is Liberal funding cuts that have broken Ontario’s health care system?” Sattler asked.