TORONTO, Oct. 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Ontario Health Coalition launched a short as we speak charging that the Ford government lied to the public about its privatization of Ontario’s public hospital providers. The Coalition reported that the Ford government considerably elevated funding to personal clinics whereas at the identical time denying that they had been increasing the personal clinics. The denials had been made in written and verbal statements to media throughout Ontario in the months main into the election. In addition, the Coalition studies, after outright denial of their plans to privatize prior to the provincial election, as quickly as the election was over the Ford government introduced it’s certainly going to privatize our public hospitals’ providers.
The Coalition launched the proof in a press convention as we speak, demanding Ford to cease his privatization of our public hospitals’ providers and take actual motion to take care of the emergency in well being care that his government had a big hand in creating. The Coalition additionally launched a serious public marketing campaign to mobilize Ontarians to save our native public hospitals and cease Ford’s privatization. They joined with Democracy Watch to name for an honesty-in-politics regulation to penalize political events that interact in deceptive the public.
“The Ford government lied to the public leading into an election,” stated Natalie Mehra, govt director. “You can’t just outright deny you are expanding private for-profit clinics while you are in fact shunting millions over to expand private for-profit clinics. You can’t pretend you are not going to privatize before an election and then, as soon as the election is over, announce plans to privatize. By every measure, this is wrong. It is fundamentally undemocratic and cannot go without challenge.”
“The Ontario public will not tolerate such deception. Nor will we tolerate the Ford government failing to deal with the strain our public hospitals are under while at the same time funneling public money over to profit seeking corporations to privatize our public hospitals’ services,” she added.
Ms. Mehra introduced that the Health Coalition — which represents greater than ¾ of 1,000,000 Ontarians, greater than 400 member organizations and native chapters throughout the province — plans for a serious fightback together with province-wide townhall conferences, group organizing, protests and escalating actions.
“The Ford government has no mandate. They made sure of that when they deceived the public about what they were doing and what they intended to do. We will fight this and we will not stop until they stop privatizing Ontarians’ public hospitals,” she concluded.
“The misleading statements made by Ford government representatives before and during the 2022 provincial election about their plans for Ontario’s health care system are just one of many examples of the need for an honesty in politics law to penalize misleaders who violate voters’ rights by baiting them with false statements and election promises and then switching direction when they get elected,” said Duff Conacher, Co-founder of Democracy Watch, who joined the Coalition in a press conference this morning.
Briefing Note and Evidence:
Pre-Election: Error, Denial & False Statements
Before the election, Health Minister Christine Elliot made a bombshell statement,
“We are opening up pediatric surgeries, cancer screenings…Making sure that we can let independent health facilities operate private hospitals.” https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1998422595853 (38 second mark).
(Independent Health Facilities are personal clinics. 98% of the IHFs are personal for-profit in accordance to Ontario’s Auditor General. Some do outpatient surgical procedures. None have in a single day stays.)
It was an odd factor to say as a result of the Private Hospitals Act banned personal hospitals in Ontario beginning 50 years in the past—for good motive. Ontario has spent greater than 100 years constructing a public hospital system. The Private Hospitals Act grandfathered-in the present personal hospitals and banned any new ones. It additionally bans the enlargement of the present personal hospitals. There are solely two personal hospitals left that present surgical procedures (Shouldice Hospital and Don Mills). They present providers for wholesome sufferers who’re at low threat. (One of our members was lately refused surgical procedure at Shouldice as a result of he has COPD, for instance. One of our interns may solely get surgical procedure there if he may meet a goal weight.) The Minister’s assertion that the Ford government was going to enable personal clinics to function personal hospitals got here at the identical time as the province was – and continues to – privatizing long-term care, residence care, vaccines, COVID testing, and is permitting for-profit digital care firms and COVID testing firms to cost sufferers for entry to medical doctors and vaccines respectively, in violation of the Canada Health Act. There was ample motive to be deeply involved.
The Ontario Health Coalition instantly held 20 digital native press conferences adopted by 20 native emergency summits throughout the province to elevate the alarm. They inspired the media to query the government about the Minister’s assertion. Representatives from the Ministry of Health attended a few of these summits. Spokespeople from the Minister’s workplace obtained in contact with reporters and/or answered media interviews. The Minister’s spokespeople claimed that the Minister misspoke or was misinterpreted. They categorically denied plans to broaden personal well being clinics and hospitals. They really stated that any declare that they had been increasing personal clinics was “categorically false”. Examples:
- “These claims are categorically false…To be clear, the government is committed to supporting the province’s public health care system. The use or function of private hospitals and independent health facilities in Ontario is not being expanded or changed.” https://www.therecord.com/news/waterloo-region/2022/03/17/privatization-of-health-care-claims-are-categorically-false-ministers-spokesperson-says.html
- Pressed additional on the coalition’s concern about the potential for an expanded privatization of health-care providers and for extra personal hospitals to open, she stated, “No, that is not accurate.” https://www.sudbury.com/top-stories/health-care-privatization-an-election-issue-ontario-health-coalition-5083727
- A spokesperson for Elliott and the Ministry of Health denies the allegations by the LHC. “These claims are categorically false…The use or function of private hospitals and independent health facilities in Ontario is not being expanded or changed.” https://london.ctvnews.ca/london-health-coalition-fights-to-stop-privatization-of-health-care-with-new-campaign-1.5851916
- “Claims that the government is looking to allow more for-profit health care in Ontario (are) categorically false…The use or function of private hospitals and independent health facilities in Ontario is not being expanded or changed.” https://www.intelligencer.ca/news/health-coalition-blasts-private-care-provincial-approach
These statements had been made by Ford government spokespeople Feb – April. However, information from the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario — a physique which opinions Ontario’s fiscal reporting and which studies to the Ontario Legislature — reveals that the government in reality doubled the funding for the personal clinics [Independent Health Facilities] from the third quarter to the fourth quarter — the identical time interval as government spokespeople had been definitively claiming they weren’t increasing the use or operate of personal clinics. According to the FAO, in the last quarter of the final fiscal yr January 1 – March 31, 2022, the Ford government elevated funding to personal clinics [Independent Health Facilities] by greater than $13.6 million. This was not as a result of they underspent in earlier quarters. Overall for the yr, the Ford government elevated their projected spending for IHFs by greater than $12 million. See This fall Spending- Line 305 Independent Health Facilities right here: https://tinyurl.com/3tfejdp5.
Post-Election:
Despite the categorical claims by the Ford government that they weren’t intending to privatize and weren’t increasing privatization, two months after the election, the Ford government introduced that they ARE going to privatize public hospital providers and broaden personal for-profit clinics and hospitals:
- “The Ford government announced it will begin funding private clinic surgeries” MetropolisNews, August 18, 2022 https://toronto.citynews.ca/2022/08/18/ontario-healthcare-plan-to-stay-open/
- “Ontario Premier Doug Ford says his government is going to “get artistic” when looking at how health care can be delivered as the province deals with a staffing crisis in hospitals.
Ford said Friday that “every thing is on the desk” when asked if Ontario is considering further privatization of the health-care system. CTV News, August 12, 2022 https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-s-doug-ford-says-he-believes-in-public-health-care-but-government-will-get-creative-1.6025168 - Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones says Doug Ford’s government will work with private health clinics to find more “opportunities” for private companies in the public health system. On Thursday, Jones unveiled the government’s plan to “relieve” the health system’s surgical backlog by “increasing the number of OHIP-covered surgical procedures performed at independent health facilities.” Press Progress, August 18, 2022 https://pressprogress.ca/ontario-health-minister-sylvia-jones-pledges-to-help-private-clinics-find-more-opportunities-in-the-public-health-system/
- Ontario to fund more private clinic surgeries, Global TV, August 18, 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIGbUV5HPOY
- The Ford government’s 5-point plan released August 18 states:
“Ontario is working with hospital partners to identify innovative solutions to reduce wait times for surgeries and procedures, including considering options for further increasing surgical capacity by increasing the number of OHIP-covered surgical procedures performed at independent health facilities.” https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1002246/ontario-introduces-a-plan-to-stay-open-health-system-stability-and-recovery
This privatization is not about “stabilizing” the health system or adding capacity. Every large hospital in Ontario has operating rooms that have been closed for weeks or months or even permanently for years due to inadequate funding and, more recently, staffing shortages. Private clinics take scarce staff out of our local public hospitals worsening wait times for the public system. The evidence is that the private clinics charge patients illegal user fees and other fees for medically unnecessary add-ons. This is not about improving health care. It is about expanding a profit-seeking industry that wants access to the billions in public funding for health care. To illustrate:
“Since the pandemic started private health care has grown enormously and a record number of lobbyists have registered with private health care companies to lobby for increased privatization or outsourcing…
Statistics from the office of Ontario’s Integrity Commissioner note that more lobbyists have registered to influence health policy than on nearly any other issue – 1,137 registrations – aside from “economic development and trade”…Since the start of the pandemic, reports have indicated private virtual care, private health testing and even private health facilities have grown enormously…”
Press Progress, May 4, 2022 https://pressprogress.ca/here-are-all-the-corporations-lobbying-doug-ford-to-privatize-and-outsource-parts-of-ontarios-health-care-system/
For more information: Natalie Mehra, executive director (416) 230-6402 or Riley Sanders, campaigns & communications director (647) 617-1474, [email protected]; Duff Conacher, co-founder, Democracy Watch (416) 546-3443, [email protected].
