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ONTARIO PASSES HEALTH-REFORM BILL BUT ADVOCATES VOW TO KEEP FIGHTING
Posted: May 9, 2023
(May 8th, 2023)
By: Christine Ross, Zoomer Radio
Bill 60 has officially passed in the Ontario legislature that will allow more private clinics to offer some publicly funded surgeries and procedures in an effort to cut long wait lists for care.
But advocates and the opposition like NDP leader Marit Stile have major concerns about the up-selling of medical services.
“Under Doug Ford’s plan, we’re going to see more emergency rooms closing because there won’t be enough staff to keep them open, we’re going to have a two tier system where a select few are going to jump to the front of the line and everybody else is going to wait even longer,” said Stiles.
NDP health critic France Gélinas says this is a sad day. “A day that will go down in history in our province as the day the Ford government delivered a fatal blow to our treasured medicare,”added Gélinas.
And Natalie Mehra with the Ontario Health Coalition accuses the health minister of mincing her words.
“The health minister won’t even say the words private clinic, she won’t say independent health facilities, she won’t say private, she won’t say for profit, she keeps referring to them as community-based clinics.”
Cataract surgeries and diagnostic imaging and testing will be expanded while the government will create an entirely new system to perform hip and knee replacement surgeries.
Hospitals are concerned about losing staff to private clinics. And healthcare advocates haven’t ruled out legal action.
The Ontario Health Coalition is holding a referendum May 26th and 27th with 1,000 voting locations across the province for people to weigh in.
The voting can also be done online here.
