Nov 10
8
3rd-world McGuinty wing at overcrowded Mississauga hospital
The Ottawa Citizen – November 4, 2010
Emergency room moved to parking lot at Ontario hospital
By Lee Greenberg
TORONTO — An overcrowded Ontario hospital has moved some of its overflow emergency room operations to an unlikely location — the parking lot. The Credit Valley hospital, in suburban Mississauga, said it renovated an ambulance bay to accommodate “spikes” in demand like those that happened during the H1N1 pandemic in 2009. The renovations include “heating and other necessary utilities for patient care,” according to an email from Krista Finlay, a hospital spokeswoman.
Provincial Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak raised the issue in the legislature at Queen’s Park Thursday, where he called the overflow emergency room a “dirty garage.” “We’re calling it the McGuinty wing,” he said, referring to the province’s Liberal Premier. Conservatives circulated a picture of the ambulance bay, which resembles a windowed parking lot. Fallen leaves litter the ground. Several piles of hospital materials are covered in bed sheets near the entrance. It is unclear when the picture was taken.