In response to the Ford government’s plans to double private delivery of MRIs and CT scans, hospital workers protested at Nipissing MPP Victor Fedeli’s constituency office in North Bay on Monday morning.
“The Ford government says the status quo isn’t working – but it’s a status quo of their own making,” said Michael Hurley, president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE). “They have been underfunding and starving the public system and dangling privatization as a solution. But, privatization is twice as expensive and comes with longer waiting lists. We are calling for real solutions to the hospital crisis, like concrete measures to attract and retain new staff and the addition of new beds.”
The union pointed out a recent Ontario Health Coalition report that found private clinics are illegally billing patients up to $8,000 for medically necessary services in violation of the Canada Health Act.
“Premier Ford famously claimed that Ontarians would never have to pay with their credit card, only their OHIP card. However, patients at for-profit clinics are being charged thousands of dollars,” said Sharon Richer, Secretary-Treasurer of OCHU/CUPE. “People have been told they can either pay for medically needed surgeries or face extreme wait times.”
In May, the North Bay and District Health Coalition also protested the threat of healthcare privatization in Ontario.
The rally in North Bay is part of a series of demonstrations the union is organizing across communities in Ontario, as it says private clinics receive record funding while public hospitals operate deficits.
