Niagarans have say on health care
Local health coalition releases referendum results
Through a citizen-led referendum this month, thousands of Niagarans have voted for the maintenance of local hospitals and their services while opposing provincial plans to increase privatization.
Fort Erie resident Heather Kelley said it should have been up to the Ontario government to hold that referendum and give people a say in “what is it that we need as far as health care is concerned.”
But decision-makers, she added, “figure they have all the answers.”
Kelley was one of more than 120 volunteers from Niagara Health Coalition who helped organize the referendum in an effort to let Queen’s Park know what people think about immediate plans to increase medical procedures at private clinics rather than in hospitals, as well as long-term plans to close hospital facilities in Fort Erie and Port Colborne and reduce services in Welland, when a new Niagara Falls hospital opens.
She joined coalition chair Sue Hotte and other volunteers outside St. Catharines hospital Tuesday morning to share the results of the referendum.
Niagara residents over the age of 16, and who signed a pledge agreeing to vote only once in the referendum, cast ballots at more than 50 polling stations throughout Niagara on Friday and Saturday, and at advanced polls that began May 11, or voted online.
Hotte said 10,042 people voted in favour of protecting and improving existing hospitals “without any further cuts or closures.” Opposed were 197 people.
While the question regarding Niagara hospitals was only available on paper ballots in the region, the local vote was held in conjunction with a provincewide referendum organized by Ontario Health Coalition that also asked people: “Do you want our public hospital services to be privatized to for-profit hospitals and clinics?”
Including online responses to that question, Hotte said 17,123 Niagara residents voted against privatization, while 404 were in favour of it.
Kelley said she became involved in the heath coalition’s efforts after reading a newspaper article about long-term plans for Douglas Memorial Hospital.
“We cannot afford to lose our urgent care,” she said. “It just seems ridiculous because the argument doesn’t change from the people. The people are saying we can’t get out of town sometimes in the middle of winter, ambulances can’t get in.”
Referring to a severe winter storm that hit the growing community in December, Kelley wondered “what would happen in a medical emergency” without the nearby Fort Erie hospital.
A statement from Niagara Health in response to the local referendum said the hospital system “welcomes healthy debate about the future of our health-care system.”
“As a health-care provider organization, we are particularly interested in publicly funded solutions that address health human resources, access to care (including comprehensive primary care) and the sustainability of the system,” the statement said.
Hotte also listed several concerns about provincial legislation to increase non-urgent medical procedures conducted in private clinics rather than hospitals such as potential service charges on top of OHIP payments, increased costs and and a possible exacerbation of hospital medical staff shortages.
She said the Your Health Act, Bill 60, gives “carte blanche” to private clinic operators.
“You have our public dollars being spent on for-profit clinics, and not just for the service they’re going to be doing but also start-up costs for office and administration,” she said. “And our hospitals that are already so underfunded are going to see an even deeper financial crisis because for every operation they (hospitals) do, every service they deliver, they receive funding. And if they don’t have that funding, they cannot deliver all the services, they can’t hire all the staff they need.”
Hotte said the vote was the culmination of about two months of work for the volunteers.
“We’re going to make sure those buildings are open, that we have our services. We’re going to do what we can.”
The full results of the provincewide referendum will be presented at Queen’s Park Wednesday.
Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates discussed the issue at Queen’s Park, Tuesday.
“We have a real crisis in our health-care system, from wait times to staffing shortages to emergency room closures,” he said.
We cannot afford to lose our urgent care.
HEATHER KELLEY FORT ERIE RESIDENT