Emergency departments nationwide are overflowing, beds are full and people are dying, said an article published in Jacobin magazine, recalling that last year an Angus Reid survey revealed that 29 percent of adults reported ‘chronic difficulties’ in accessing health care.

In Ontario, Canada’s largest province, a recent Environics poll found that 80 percent of respondents believe the health care system there is in crisis.

According to the report, the influx of patients with Covid-19, respiratory viruses and influenza are straining already understaffed health care facilities, including children’s hospitals.

While much of the media coverage suggests that the system’s inability to cope is a problem of overcrowding following the backlog of Covid-19 cases, it is in fact a recurring phenomenon, Jacobin said.

A review of the past few decades shows that the country’s emergency departments experience this problem -too many patients and not enough beds- almost every five years, he said.

Across Canada, hospitals have had to airlift patients, close emergency departments, extend family practice hours and subject patients to long and dangerous waits, the text reviewed.

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