Niagara hospitals cutting nearly 100 jobs as Ford’s health care crisis hits home

NIAGARA – Ontario NDP MPPs Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls), Jeff Burch (Niagara Centre), and Jennie Stevens (St. Catharines), are responding to news that Niagara Health will eliminate 98 positions after ending the fiscal year with a $26 million deficit.

“Hundreds of families in Niagara Falls desperately need our hospitals every single day who already have to languish in hallways due to ER wait times,” said MPP Wayne Gates. “Cutting jobs for hospital workers who are already running off their feet is only making the hallway medicine crisis worse in Niagara. Despite the urgent need for investment the Ford government refuses to fund healthcare enough to maintain the services we count on.”

Niagara Health confirmed it will cut 88 unionized roles and 10 non-union positions. The system says patient needs and costs are climbing faster than funding and that it must find $9 million in savings.

“People in Niagara are exhausted. Every single month it’s another cut, another service slipping away, another blow to a system that’s already on its knees, when will it be enough?” said Burch. “Families are doing everything they can to stay healthy, but this government keeps making it harder. Niagara deserves a government that shows up for them instead of forcing hospitals to figure out which jobs to eliminate next.”

Stevens says the layoffs reflect a broader jobs crisis unfolding across Ontario under the government’s watch.

“We have watched jobs disappear across manufacturing, the trades and the public sector all year,” said Stevens. “Now even our hospitals in Niagara are being forced into layoffs. This government is desperately failing workers and families. People are worried about jobs, worried about their hospitals, and worried about how much worse things can get.”

The Niagara MPPs say the region has sounded the alarm repeatedly about the growing financial strain on local hospitals and the urgent need for stable, long-term funding. They are calling on the government to immediately step in and prevent further job losses in health care.