RNAO’s ongoing media profile: Your August 2024 report
Throughout the month of August, RNAO’s CEO and president were extensively featured in media stories. Topics included: the Ontario government’s decision to close supervised consumption sites (SCS), the environmental harms associated with the construction of Highway 413 and moral distress facing hospital workers.
On Aug. 20, Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced that the province will close 10 SCSs across Ontario as they transition to a treatment-focused model. RNAO CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun called the decision “a death sentence for people that use substances” (Windsor Star, Aug. 20). In RNAO’s media release (Aug. 20), President NP Lhamo Dolkar said “nurses are enraged that we will see more preventable deaths. These numbers will increase because the Ford government has made it clear that people who use substances are disposable.” The government will instead fund new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery (HART) Hubs to connect individuals who use substances primary care, mental health and other essential services. The proposed hubs will not offer safer supply, supervised drug consumption or needle exchange programs, which Grinspun said will lead to increased rates of HIV and Hepatitis C and cost taxpayers more. “People that are in the streets don’t have the means to have (clean) needles so they will start to reuse needles,” said Grinspun (CP24, Aug. 20). While HART Hubs respond to long-standing calls for recovery and treatment resources, nurses expected these HART Hubs to provide wrap-around services – including harm reduction services. “People take many years and sometimes are never ready for treatment. That doesn’t mean we don’t save their lives,” Grinspun told CBC News’ Power & Politics (Aug. 20). Grinspun also noted that these sites will not make communities safer. She told 570 News (Aug. 21), “you will have more clean up of needles, way more than what you have now.” In a letter to the Toronto Star (Aug. 28), Grinspun warned readers: “The very same harm reduction programs the premier is targeting don’t only save lives; they also open the door to treatment and recovery.”
After Grinspun’s interview with CBC’s Power and Politics (Aug. 20), a member of federal Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre’s team criticized Grinspun on X about her extensive credentials. In response, Grinspun wrote an op-ed published in the Toronto Star (Aug. 31) highlighting the importance of listening to experts on the issue of harm reduction. “Instead of mocking, Mr. Poilievre and his team could benefit from understanding the importance of SCS as an essential pillar of a multi-pronged approach to address this public health crisis and make our communities safer for all,” Grinspun wrote. A letter to the editor by Grinspun was also published in the Globe and Mail (Sept. 3). She wrote, “Supervised consumption sites are not ‘drug dens’ as Mr. Poilievre has callously stated. They offer evidence-based gateways to treatment and recovery.” Grinspun also spoke about the harms associated with closing SCSs with the following media outlets: QP Briefing, CBC News, CBC Radio’s Up North, Ottawa Citizen, City News Ottawa, CBC Radio’s Afternoon Drive , Hamilton Spectator and The Trillium (share RNAO’s Aug. 21 post, Aug. 22 post, Aug. 23 post, Aug. 24 post and Aug. 30 post on X). RNAO will continue to call on the government to reverse its decision and encourages everyone to sign its Action Alert.
This month, Grinspun co-authored an op-ed with Gideon Forman, a transportation-policy analyst with the David Suzuki Foundation, about the construction of Highway 413. They argue that the province should invest in public transit service rather than spending money on an unnecessary expressway. “Transit fosters personal and public health. Automobiles are a major source of pollution, particularly in urban environments,” Grinspun wrote. She and Forman argue that where transit ridership is high, the risk of traffic fatality is reduced for all road users. Public transportation also reduces congestions providing cleaner air and better mental health, especially for drivers. published by TVO (Aug. 15).
A recent peer-reviewed study by the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions found that the morale of Ontario hospital workers is low. The study noted that since 2020, working conditions have gotten worse and staffing levels haven’t increased, resulting in exhaustion and burnout among workers. “They feel day in and day out, that not only can they provide the kind of care they want to, they are stressed out. They’re going to leave,” said Grinspun about the results of the study. (CBC News, Aug. 12).
RNAO continues to speak out alongside its members on topics related to nursing and health. Stay up-to-date on media coverage by visiting RNAO in the news. If you’re interested in speaking with reporters on issues related to nursing, health and health care, complete a short survey.
