A study of hospital cleaning staff province-wide finds many short-comings when it comes to keeping hospitals bacteria free. The Ontario Council of Hospital Unions released the report in Timmins on Monday as it tours the province campaigning for cleaner hospitals. The study says hospitals no longer have enough cleaning staff to keep bedrails, mattresses, taps and door handles sterilized and bacteria free. Nicholas Black, a hospital worker in Timmins, says hiring more staff could help change this. A federal agency says across Canada each year, more than 200,000 patients pick up infections while being treated at health facilities. And the Public Health Agency of Canada adds that about 8,000, including 3,000 from Ontario, die.
