Have your say on proposal for more private sector surgeries
The Peterborough Health Coalition plans to set up 20 voting stations around the city and county for the group’s referendum on the province’s Bill 60 on May 26 and 27.
Bill 60 is the Your Health Act, which was introduced by Premier Doug Ford’s government in February with measures to speed up access to health-care services by having private clinics offer more surgical and diagnostic services, such as cataract, knee and hip surgeries, and giving pharmacists power to prescribe medications for some illnesses.
The local vote is part of a larger citizen-led referendum by the Ontario Health Coalition, which will see 500 voting stations to give Ontarians a chance to have their say on the province’s new strategy.
“We were not asked by Ford before the last provincial election. So, now we’re going to give people the opportunity to say whether they support this or not,” said Marion Burton, co-chair of PHC, during a launch for the vote on Thursday at the local Ontario Public Sector Employees Union offices.
She said Ford has changed his tune.
“When confronted about whether this was something he may consider he vehemently denied that they would privatize public health,” she said. “And yet two months later, there he goes, putting in legislation to do that very thing he said he would not do.”
Privatizing health care is all about allowing companies to make profits, Burton said, and statistics from the United States system shows it could lead to more fatalities.
“Or look at our long-term care, which was a disaster,” she said. “The death toll during the pandemic was just unbelievable, in comparison to the publicly run homes.”
Burton said she believes privatized health care does not decrease wait times and only guts the public health-care system by flowing resources and staff into the private sector. She also said she thinks it would cost the government more money, as private companies could bill OHIP at a higher rate than the public sector.
These companies also tend to upsell patients on their procedures, which are not covered by OHIP, she said.
“In British Columbia, the private clinics there had audits done,” she said. “And in one month, there was $500,000 of extra billing.”
If this funding was instead put toward boosting staff working in the public sector, wait times would be gone in roughly three months, she said.
Peterborough—Kawartha MPP Dave Smith and MP Michelle Ferreri were both unavailable for comment.
“The private system will not be able to service those more in need, reflected in the population of Peterborough,” Burton said.
The Ontario Health Coalition’s website has a QR code for those who cannot attend a ballot station in person for the citizen vote at publichospitalvote.ca.
The Ontario Health Coalition’s website has a QR code for those who cannot attend a ballot station in person