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Health care privatization a Trojan Horse from Ford, unions says

Ontario Council of Hospital Unions is touring the province with a large Trojan Horse sculpture, which they say represents the Ontario's Conservative government's deceptive gift of shorter wait times through privatization

Unionized hospital workers gathered in front of Health Sciences North (HSN) on Tuesday to rally with a large Trojan Horse replica to symbolize the “gift” from the Conservative government that privatization of hospital procedures is a good thing. 

The Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (CUPE/OCHU) said the so-called gift of privatization was nothing but a deception.

"The Conservatives have presented privatization as a gift. They say that private clinics will reduce the wait times and they will alleviate the crisis in our hospitals," said Kevin Cook, first vice president of OCHU. “Nothing could be further from the truth. Their plan is deceptive, and it is dangerous for our public hospitals.”

Cook was among a group of union officials and hospital workers who gathered near Paris Street in front of HSN on Oct. 29 to speak out against what they say is a move toward private health care clinics.

Cook said the province gave false assurances that Ontario was not headed toward a two-tier health system.

"We warned the people that it will create a two-tier system, that it will benefit the wealthier people at the expense of the working class, and the private clinics will prioritize profit over patients," said Cook.

"The Ontario Health Coalition has documented mounting evidence of patients being billed extra for OHIP covered services. People have routinely paid out of pocket for cataract surgeries, MRIs primary care and diagnostic tests.

"Private for profit clinics are price gouging patients desperate for care. Patients have been threatened with longer wait times if they choose not to pay out-of-pocket. Patients have been manipulated or coerced into paying out-of-pocket for unnecessary add on services," he said.

Cook said there have been documented cases of patients paying up to $8,000 for private service in the for-profit clinics; services that would have been free if provided in a hospital. He said ordinary people cannot afford $8,000 for health care.

Also speaking to the gathering was David Tremblay, Northeastern Ontario vice president for OCHU, who also works at HSN. He said private clinics are also cutting into staffing levels at public hospitals.

"And in effect, it creates unequal access based on your ability to pay. If you have money, you can jump the queue and gain access to the services you need. And if you don't have $8,000 in disposable income, well, that's too bad,” Tremblay said. “Good luck just waiting for that hip or knee surgery or that cataract surgery."

Tremblay said Ontario's public hospitals are struggling because they have been chronically underfunded.

"Ontario has the lowest per person hospital funding across Canada. We have the lowest hospital staffing levels in the country, and we have the fewest number of staff hospital beds."

Tremblay said the solution is for the province to begin funding up to 16,000 more hospital beds and to begin hiring thousands of more health care professionals to staff new hospitals. Tremblay said in the past budget year, the Conservatives actually did increase hospital and health spending, but it has to continue and more people need to speak out.

Len Gillis covers health care and mining for Sudbury.com.


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Len Gillis

About the Author: Len Gillis

Graduating from the Journalism program at Canadore College in the 1970s, Gillis has spent most of his career reporting on news events across Northern Ontario with several radio, television and newspaper companies. He also spent time as a hardrock miner.
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