RELEASE: “OHC Austerity Index” details Hospital Cuts and Privatization Reach New Levels: Coalition Announces “S.O.S.” – Save Our Services – Day of Action

Posted: February 25, 2013

(February 25, 2013) At a Queen’s Park press conference this morning, the Ontario Health Coalition, representing more than 400 organizations dedicated to protecting public health care, warned that the Ontario government’s austerity budget is causing unprecedented cuts to and privatization of hospital and health care services. The Ontario government is curtailing health spending by more than $3 billion, most of which will be shouldered by hospitals and OHIP. Ontario already funds its hospitals at the lowest rate per person of any province in Canada.

The coalition announced plans for a cross-province Day of Action on Monday March 4. Protests will be held across Ontario. The coalition has titled the event “S.O.S. — Save Our Services” and with the Day of Action it is launching an S.O.S. campaign across Ontario.

The coalition takes issue with the Health Minister’s claims that services are being “transformed” or transferred to home care. This is simply untrue. In many cases, services being cut simply do not exist in home or community care. In other cases, services are being demonstrably privatized to for-profit corporations, despite repeated government promises to the contrary.

The coalition released a new report, the OHC Austerity Index: Health Care Cuts and Deficits Across Ontario listing hospital deficits and service cuts across the province and a list of upcoming March 4 Day of Action events.