Spend more on cleaning staff in hospitals, Ontario Council of Hospital Unions tells province

The Ontario Council of Hospital Unions doesn't think your hospital is clean enough.

The council the hospital division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees is asking the province for more funding for environmental cleaners and infection control specialists.

Without more staff, the council worries hospital-acquired infections will become harder to control.

"Health Sciences North is actually a poster child for over-crowding and for the inadequacy for the hospital system," said council president Michael Hurley.

"Especially in the face of a problem like the flu."

Hurley noted that a history of hospital restructuring and funding cuts has created some of the worst conditions for patients.

"You've got a host of problems in the northeast, which causes people to overwhelm a hospital system," he said.

The council is in Sudbury later this afternoon, and will tour other northern communities like Espanola and Timmins during the rest of the week.