The Ontario Council of Hospital Unions is urging the provincial government to move away from for-profit staffing agencies after a new study revealed they've cost Ontario hospitals $9.2 billion in the last 10 years.
The report was commissioned by the OCHU and written by Andrew Longhurst from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
The report urges the Ontario government to follow Quebec's lead to phase out and ban health care staffing agencies and create a public sector alternative for temporary work placements.
The report also recommends an additional $2 billion in base funding for hospitals, which would allow them to increase staff-to-patient ratios and offer competitive compensation.
"[Hospitals] are not able to recruit and retain within a context of provincial funding austerity if hospitals themselves don't have the ability to negotiate more competitive wages and better working conditions," said Longhurst.
Ontario Council of Hospital Unions President Michael Hurley indicated these steps will help to attract nurses to fill vacancies at hospitals.
"If you phase out the agencies as Quebec is doing, and you take proactive steps in addition to upping the enrolment in nursing colleges, there's 10,000 people who are licensed that are not practising nursing who could be enticed back," said Hurley.
The full report "Hollowed out: Ontario public hospitals and the rise of private staffing agencies" can be found online here.