Liberals: Access and investment

By 2003, after 13 years of NDP and Tory neglect and incompetence, people questioned whether publicly-run, publicly-funded, publicly-accountable health care would even exist in the future. In 2007, it is stronger than ever.

Capital investment in our hospitals

All the hospitals that serve Mississauga: Credit Valley, Trillium and William Osler have major capital projects in progress. Credit Valley's Phase II got started in June. It will add 140 beds to the hospital, its first expansion since 1985. When complete, Phase II will ease the pressure on the maternity suite, the emergency room, and provide complex continuing care facilities for the community

Family Medicine Teaching Unit

The best way to ensure that young doctors practice medicine at Credit Valley Hospital is to teach them medicine there. Working with the University of Toronto, Credit Valley has established the Family Medicine Teaching Unit to work with the new medical school at UTM, and train the doctors our community needs right here in western Mississauga.

More critical procedures

Credit Valley Hospital has been funded for additional hip and knee replacements and cataract procedures to cut into wait times.

Linear accelerator ahead of schedule

To alleviate the wait times for MRI and linear accelerator procedures, this government funded extra hours on the existing machines, and funded the acquisition of the fourth linear accelerator a full year ahead of schedule in the Regional Cancer Care Centre.

More nurses

There are more nurses at Credit Valley than in 2003, more than keeping pace with growth. The positions are overwhelmingly full-time so that nurses don't have to work shifts at multiple hospital locations.

Tories: Closed hospitals

• Closed 28 Ontario hospitals;
• Eliminated 5,000 hospital beds in their first two years alone;
• Fired 8,000 nurses across Ontario;
• Did nothing to improve health care facilities or infrastructure in Mississauga.

NDP: Incompetence & cuts

• Cut budgets of Ontario hospitals while in government between 1990 and 1995;
• Closed some 8,000 hospitals beds across Ontario;
• Drastically cut the number of medical school spaces, starting the current doctor shortage;
• Cut the number of foreign-trained physicians alowed into Ontario for training