Sudbury area hospital workers rally in Kingston, Ont.

Dozens of hospital workers from Sudbury, Ontario and other parts of the northeast, joined about a thousand of their colleagues from across the province in Kingston on Thursday, rallying to make their voices heard as they slammed the province over healthcare spending.

Under-funding for hospitals in Ontario is causing overcrowding and higher readmission rates for patients, according to the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU).

• Funding for Sudbury's hospital 'inadequate,' group says

The council, which is comprised of over 100 bargaining units of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), has been holding rallies to get the attention of the Ontario Liberal government.

About 40 employees from Sudbury were part of the delegation of around 100 from the northeast that made the trek in several buses to the rally in front of Kingston General Hospital.

"In Sudbury we know that there has been bed closures," said Sharon Richer, the Ontario council's secretary-treasurer, who joined the rally from Sudbury. 

"I mean it's been reported that patients have been in ... patient lounges with no running water, no privacy, no toilet to go to, sitting in structures in hallways in the emergency department," said Richer.

Workers seek more funding for front-line staff

Ontario has fallen far behind other provinces in terms of hospital spending, Richer said, adding union rallies will continue until the province provides more funding.

She added that the money should go to ensure more front-line staff in the province's hospitals.

Budget cuts and under-funding is leading to problems for patients, Richer said.

"Pulling in to the emergency department and waiting hours to see a physician, being lucky enough to being able to have a bed at a hospital or laying days on a stretcher in a hallway," she said, describing some of the situations she said she's encountered.

The council released a report earlier this year showing a large funding gap in Ontario's hospitals, compared to the rest of the country.

Ontario's Ministry of Health and Long Term Care countered that claim by referencing another report prepared by the Service Employees International Union that said Ontario and Quebec lead the country in spending health dollars "wisely and efficiently."

The province also contended that the OCHU's report failed to consider personal support workers, nurses and other health-care providers, who provide care to patients in their homes and in other settings within the community.

The Ontario Council of Hospital Unions plans to hold more rallies in 2017, including one in Sudbury in June.