Ford government backs away from NICU expansion as Hamilton families lose care and jobs

HAMILTON — This week St. Joseph’s Hospital announced that their planned neonatal ICU expansion has been cancelled amidst drastic budget cuts from the provincial government. Ontario NDP Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Addictions with responsibility for Primary Care Dr. Robin Lennox says the provincial government isn’t keeping its promises made to Hamilton families.

“When the government announced this NICU expansion, the Minister of Health confidently said it would give Hamilton families comfort and hope and ensure newborns received the highest quality of care when and where they need it,” said Lennox. “Now that the shine of that announcement has faded, the government is running away from that commitment and failing to provide our hospitals with the funding they need to offer these essential programs.”

Lennox said cancelling new NICU beds while hospitals face staffing cuts is the result of chronic underfunding.

“It truly seems like the Ford government believes that hospitals can deliver quality care on press releases alone,” said Lennox. “Our hospitals are being put in an impossible position with the budget cuts imposed by the Ministry of Health. Undercutting much-needed NICU beds and cutting jobs does not give families comfort or hope. It leaves them with fewer supports at one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives.”

Lennox also pointed to her experience as a health-care professional.

“Over the past several years, I’ve had the privilege of caring for patients whose newborns required NICU services,” said Lennox. “The staff at St. Joseph’s are incredibly skilled, dedicated, and compassionate. Rolling back provincial support after publicly committing to this expansion is deeply discouraging for workers and devastating for families who were told help was on the way.”

Lennox said Hamilton families were misled.

“You don’t stand in front of cameras and promise comfort and hope, then quietly slash hospital budgets when no one’s watching. That’s not the leadership our health system demands. Hamilton families and NICU staff deserve honesty and real funding, not broken promises.”