Media Statement - Premier Ford's Latest Scheme won't fix Emergency Department Understaffing, says Ontario Nurses' Association

TORONTO, Oct. 8, 2026 /CNW/ -- Ontario's emergency departments (ED) are in deep crisis due to understaffing and chronic underfunding, and Premier Ford's latest "action team" will only make matters worse, says Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) Provincial President Erin Ariss, RN.

"Emergency departments across the province are under extreme pressure with rampant violence and hallway health care as a result of Premier Ford's nursing cuts and systematic underfunding," says Ariss, noting that the Ford government's announcement to sink millions into an Emergency Department Action Team will do nothing to improve patient care delivery.

"Premier Ford clearly has money to spend on private health care and 'action teams' whose main purpose is to identify service cuts, but his government refuses to invest in solutions that actually improve patient care," notes Ariss. "Instead of pretending to improve ED wait times while cutting nurses and gutting hospitals, the Ford government should be funding public health care and mandating safe staffing ratios."

ONA is expressing serious concerns about the government's use of Lean methodology. This approach was developed by the automotive sector to improve production processes, eliminate waste and increase efficiency. "A hospital is not a car manufacturing plant, and a patient is not a product moving down an assembly line. Using a method developed for inanimate objects in the health-care setting will – and has – cost lives," says Ariss.

The Financial Accountability Office recently reported that the Ford government is underfunding public health by about $5 billion over the next two years, at significantly lower rates of growth than the previous three years. The FAO projects this will result in the loss of thousands more hospital beds and nurses.

"Premier Ford is cutting Ontario's public health-care system to the bone," says Ariss. "If he is serious about fixing public health care and our overburdened emergency departments, he must fully fund the system and follow other provinces by implementing safe staffing ratios."

ONA is the union representing over 68,000 nurses and health-care professionals, as well as 18,000 nursing student affiliates, providing care in hospitals, long-term care, public health, the community, clinics, and industry.

SOURCE Ontario Nurses' Association