KINGSTON, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – Sept. 22, 2017) – Early August the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) alerted the Kingston community that Kingston hospitals had received sub-par funding from the province for 2017.

At the time, Mike Rodrigues the president of CUPE (1974) representing about 1400 front line staff at Kingston Health Sciences Centre (KHSC), called on MPP Sophie Kiwala to secure better funding for Kingston hospitals than the 1.8 per cent her government announced in May 2017.

For 2017-2018, KHSC received only a fraction of 3.1 per cent announced in the provincial budget last April and below the hospital’s increasing operational costs of over 5 per cent a year.

“We think it’s imperative that the area MPP advocate on behalf of vulnerable patients for the additional provincial dollars. Failing to do that will mean care and service cuts at KHSC,” says Rodrigues.

He’ll be among other KHSC front line staff taking part in a 1:00 p.m. rally at Kiwala’s Kingston constituency office (2-303 Baggot Street) on Monday, September 25 (2017).

“We said we would be vigilant on behalf of patients and hospital staff and active in getting increased funding for our hospital and that is just what we are doing. That our MPP would accept funding below the hospital’s inflationary costs is, just not good enough for our community,” says Rodrigues.

Michael Hurley, CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE) president will also attend Monday’s rally.