TORONTO — Ontario’s fiscal watchdog says the province is expected to be short 33,000 nurses and personal support workers in five years.
The Financial Accountability Office says in a special health-care report that the government will be short $21 billion to cover its commitments to expand hospitals, long-term care and home care.
The province’s health-care system has buckled in recent years with severe staffing shortages that have led to temporary emergency room closures, a massive surgical backlog and fed-up patients.