'THEY'RE PRICE GOUGING:' Agency staffing is costing hospitals, LTC homes, say critics

The issue was bubbling beneath the surface, particularly in the Toronto area and northern Ontario, but has now come to the forefront province-wide as Ontario wrestles with a health care staffing crisis.

One of the problems is that there is little public information about how much is being spent on agency staff — and most of it is anecdotal., Dr. Michael Warner, an ICU physician at Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto said prior to COVID, agencies charged hospitals $65 an hour. They are now charging $110 an hour, he said.

Some LTC homes have no other alternative than to use money intended for other purposes to pay for agency staffing, she said. Agency nurses can help in a pinch, but they should only be used as a short-term stopgap, said Ivy Bourgeault, Research Chair in Gender, Diversity and the Professions at the University of Ottawa.

Nurses unions and others argue that that Bill 124, which restricts salary increases to one per cent annually for a three-year period, must be repealed. They also argue at nurses should have wage parity with police officers.

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'It's corrosive. They're price gouging:' Agency staffing is costing hospitals, LTC homes, say criticsOntario hospitals and LTC homes are filling in workforce gaps with nurses and other workers hired from agencies at a cost of more than two times times the… There is no such thing as price gouging say critics of economic ignorance. Gouging is a term used by people who do not understand economics. Prices coalesce around market forces, consumers forcing them down, suppliers forcing them up.
Source: OttawaCitizen - 🏆 21. / 68 Read more »

'It's corrosive. They're price gouging:' Agency staffing is costing hospitals, LTC homes, say criticsOntario hospitals and LTC homes are filling in workforce gaps with nurses and other workers hired from agencies at a cost of more than two times times the… There is no such thing as price gouging say critics of economic ignorance. Gouging is a term used by people who do not understand economics. Prices coalesce around market forces, consumers forcing them down, suppliers forcing them up.
Source: OttawaCitizen - 🏆 21. / 68 Read more »