The Ontario Government is considering reopening the Finch site of the Humber River Hospital to try to address the large shortage of beds, overcrowding, and hallway medicine in the area and in the province. The Finch site would be used to hold 150 seniors waiting for long-term care. Two years ago, the Wynne Liberals closed the Hospital which has contributed to the severe shortage. Over the last few years, community members have pushed to create expansions to the Finch site of the Humber River Hospital; efforts have included getting thousands of signatures for petitions which have been presented at Queen’s Park. The location was promised to be kept open for ambulatory care, but instead became an acute care facility and was subsequently closed. Now the Wynne Liberals are scrambling to solve the problem that they have created and ignored for many years. Tom Rakocevic, Ontario NDP Candidate for Humber River-Black Creek said: “Our community played a big role in the creation of the Humber River Hospital on Finch, and we were disappointed to see it closed despite assurances of the contrary. The government talk on the potential re-opening of this site in some form highlights the government's mistake to close it down in the first place. Our community deserves answers on the future of this important hospital site.”Throughout Ontario, there have been thousands of cuts and layoffs to hospitals while we have been facing a shortage of beds. There is a 30,000 person wait-list for seniors’ care, and hospitals all over the province are at over 100 per cent capacity. This disconnection has reduced the quality of the health system in Ontario and has put the lives of many people in jeopardy.