New data shows hospitals in Ontario have relied heavily on for-profit staffing agencies.
The research from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives shows Ontario hospitals spent $9.2 billion on for-profit staffing agencies between 2013-14 and 2022-23, with their use shooting up nearly 300 per cent over the last decade.
The new report obtains data from multiple sources, including financial documents from hospitals across Ontario.
Andrew Longhurst, lead researcher, said the provincial government needs to address the growing problem.
“The report really recommends that there is a three-year plan by the provincial government to phase out and ban for-profit staffing in hospitals like the province of Quebec has done,” Longhurst said.
He said the use of staffing agencies is due to underfunding from the province, resulting in staffing shortages.
Staffing agencies used to contract nursing staff to hospitals, but it’s become a “much more widespread phenomenon,” according to Longhurst.
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“It includes personal support workers, it includes allied health professionals like those working as perfusionists, working in labs, dietary aides, support and administrative staff,” he said.
Detailed findings from the report, plus recommendations to address the hospital staffing crisis, was unveiled in a media conference on Friday afternoon at the Guelph Public Library. Longhurst was joined by Michael Hurley, president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE). The union represents 50,000 hospital and long-term employees in Ontario.
Longhurst said there is growing concern among hospitals across the province, as many are trying to move away from staffing agencies, but they’re under financial constraints.
“We had a budget come down last week from Queen’s Park. It does not provide sufficient funding to meet the increasing needs of hospitals, and it also introduces $280 million over two years to for-profit health-care facilities.”
In a statement on May 15, the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) said it carefully reviewed the report and found it included misleading claims on private agency usage.
“The report states that Ontario hospitals paid private staffing agencies $9.2 billion over 10 years. However, the report combines agency staffing with all purchased services, such as housekeeping, food services, security, logistics and others,” the OHA said.
The association added that even with the misrepresentation, OHA data showed total expenditures for all purchased services, inclusive of agency costs, was $3 billion from 2013-14 to 2022-23.
Longhurst said hospitals are looking at different strategies to move away from using staffing agencies, including supporting new-to-practice nurses and other health-care professionals with better mentorship.
Longhurst said the ball is in the provincial government’s court as far as addressing recruitment and retention challenges across provincial hospitals and long-term care facilities.
“Ultimately, what it comes down to is hospitals are in a very difficult position because they are left with inadequate investment from the provincial government to negotiate fair wages and better working conditions, like minimum nurse-to-patient ratios and minimum staffing levels. These are all widely recognized in the research literature as ways to improve recruitment and retention,” he said.
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