MEDIA ADVISORY: Ontario Nurses' Association to Make Presentation to Committee Hearing Pre-Budget Submissions: Front-line nurses' union says patients need more care

OTTAWA, Jan. 21, 2015 /CNW/ - Anne Clark, a registered nurse and Vice-President of the Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) Region 2, will make a presentation in Ottawa tomorrow to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs.

Clark, a hospital RN since 1980, will discuss the many challenges facing Ontario's registered nurses and patients and provide recommendations for inclusion in the 2015 Ontario budget.

She will specifically focus on Ontario's RN to population ratio, the second-lowest in the country, and the urgent need for more RN staffing. Clark will discuss the need to appropriately fund hospitals to enable adequate nurse staffing levels, necessary in the face of the increasing needs of patients. Not enough registered nurses is having a negative impact on patient health outcomes, ultimately costing the system more. Ontario has seen more than three million hours of RN care cut from the system since 2012.

Clark will speak at 1:30 pm on January 22 in the Laurier Salon of the Ottawa Marriott Hotel.

ONA is the union representing 60,000 nurse practitioners, registered nurses and allied health professionals, as well as more than 14,000 nursing student affiliates providing care in hospitals, long-term care facilities, public health, the community, clinics and industry.

What:	Ontario Nurses' Association presentation to the Standing Committee on Finance & Economic Affairs
Who:	Anne Clark, RN, Vice-President, Ontario Nurses' Association Region 2
Where:	Ottawa Marriott Hotel, Laurier Salon, 100 Kent St., Ottawa
When:	1:30 pm, Thursday, January 22, 2015

www.ona.org | Facebook.com/OntarioNurses | Twitter.com/OntarioNurses

SOURCE Ontario Nurses' Association

Sheree Bond, 416-964-8833, ext. 2430; cell: 416-986-8240; [email protected]; Melanie Levenson, 416-964-8833, ext. 2369; [email protected]