News + Events

Health Coalition members warn of illegal billing by private health clinics during tour stop in Sarnia-Lambton

(June 11, 2017) By: Tyler Kula, Sarnia Observer Private, for-profit clinics are cutting a second tier into Canada’s public health-care system, a representative with a provincial health-care watchdog group says. And, in many cases, what they’re doing is illegal, said Peter Boyle, a volunteer with the Ontario Health Coalition. “If you need money for medical care, […]

Health Minister vows action against illegal physician double-billing

(June 11, 2017) By: Kathy Tomlinson, Justine Hunter, The Globe and Mail Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott said Sunday she is “determined to find ways to make it very clear that we expect the law to be upheld” and she finds it “disturbing” to see how Canadian physicians are double-dipping – by billing the public […]

Some doctors are charging both government and patients privately in illegal double-dipping practice

(June 10, 2017) By: Kathy Tomlinson, The Globe and Mail Regulators are doing little to stop doctor-owned clinics from quietly making desperate patients open their wallets to bypass long lines for everything from simple appointments to major surgery. Kathy Tomlinson reports Rosalia Guthrie is still astounded that it cost her $4,350 to get her shoulder […]

Can’t Bear To Lose Medicare

(June 10, 2017) By: Melanie Irwin “Tommy” the 7 ft Teddy Bear visited Point Edward Saturday with the Ontario Health Coalition’s tour against the threat of healthcare privatization. Sarnia-Lambton Health Coalition Chair Shirley Roebuck says Tommy brings with him the message “We Can’t Bear To Lose Medicare.” “Maybe we in Sarnia and Lambton have seen […]

GIANT 7′ TALL ‘MEDICARE’ BEAR STOPPING IN WALLACEBURG

(June 8, 2017) By: Aaron, Sydenham Current The Ontario Health Coalition along with the Wallaceburg-Walpole Island First Nation Health Coalition are touring a giant teddy bear with the slogan ‘We Can’t Bear to Lose Medicare’ to 20 towns from late May to mid-June to raise awareness about the threat of health care privatization. The group […]

Giant teddy bear in Cobourg on Ontario Health Coalition tour

(June 9, 2017) By: Karen Longwell, Northumberland News COBOURG — A giant teddy bear has drawn attention to a health care concern. The bear is touring the province with the slogan “We Can’t Bear to Lose Medicare”. The Ontario and Northumberland Health Coalitions gathered at Elgin Street and Strathy Road with the bear and signs […]

Ontario Health Coalition tour Ontario to raise awareness about private, for-profit clinics

(June 9, 2017) By: Ellwood Shreve, Chatham Daily News A seven-foot teddy bear isn’t going to alarm anyone, but the message being delivered through the use of this prop just might. Members of the Ontario Health Coalition made a stop in Chatham on Friday as part of its ‘We Can’t Bear to Lose Medicare’ campaign, that […]

Ontario can’t ‘bear’ to let private clinics overcharge, health coalition says

(June 9, 2017) By: Tom Morrison, OurWindsor.ca Members of the Ontario Health Coalition have brought a seven-foot stuffed bear to Windsor to raise their concerns about the use of private clinics in the province. The furry animal, which has travelled to other parts of the province, is meant to support their message: “We can’t ‘bear’ […]

Group aims to raise awareness about the risks of health-care privatization

(June 10, 2017) By: Mandy Marciniak, Kingston Heritage “We can’t ‘bear’ to lose Medicare.” That is the message the Ontario Health Coalition is bringing with them across the province this month, and on June 6, they brought it to Kingston. “We are doing a tour to let people know about the threat to health care […]

Ontario Health Coalition’s giant Care Bear visits Peterborough Downtown Farmers’ Market to send a message about health care privatization

(June 7, 2017) By: Clifford Skarstedt, Peterborough Examiner Members of the Peterborough Health Coalition were joined by a giant seven-foot-tall Care Bear on Wednesday at the Peterborough Downtown Farmers’ Market to voice their concerns about the privatization of health care in Ontario. The Care Bear stopped at the city’s Louis Street parking lot on a provincial […]

Big Bear Coming To Windsor

(June 6, 2017) By: Robert Tuomi (WINDSOR, ON) – Almost on the heels of the 210 ton HMCS Goose Bay, the next big visitor to Windsor will apparently be a so-called giant of a bear. This is no ordinary bear. Much larger than the one at Costco near the exit door, this will be a […]

The Ontario Health Coalition is touring “Tommy” the bear across the province along with a message about the importance of public healthcare.

(June 6, 2017) By: Nick Seebruch The bear is named after Tommy Douglas, the father of the Canadian Public Healthcare system. On Monday, June 5, Tommy was in Cornwall. ohn Milne is one of the people who attended the demonstration in Cornwall at that corner of Pitt and Second streets, he warned that a lack […]

Bear to lose your care campaign swings through Cornwall

(June 5, 2017) By: Todd Hambleton, Cornwall Standard-Freeholder A big bear was drawing some attention in the middle of downtown Cornwall on Monday afternoon. The We Can’t “Bear” to Lose Medicare Tour visited the city, and the star attraction was a giant – and of course cute — 7-foot tall, 4.5-foot wide teddy bear positioned at […]

Coalition aims to spur up debate on health care

(June 5, 2017) By: Joseph Cattana Kingston Health Coalition chair Matthew Gventer hopes that a larger-than-life teddy bear will get residents to ask questions about Ontario’s health-care system. On June 6, the seven-foot-tall, five-foot-wide stuffed animal will be stationed outside Kingston and the Islands MPP Sophie Kiwala’s office at Bagot and Princess streets for the […]

Peterborough Health Coaltion members can’t bear to see health care privatization

(June 3, 2017) By: The Peterborough Examiner A giant teddy bear will be downtown Wednesday to warn citizens about health care privatization. The 7-foot tall “Care Bear” will be outside the Peterborough Downtown Farmers’ Market from 10 a.m. to noon at the Louis St. parking lot. It’s making an appearance on behalf of the Peterborough Health […]

Ontario Health Coalition launches tour railing against privatization

(May 30, 2017) By: Sara Cain, 900CHML A giant teddy bear has made its first stop of 20, in Hamilton with the message: “we can’t bear to lose Medicare.” It’s part of a tour across Ontario by the Ontario Health Coalition to raise awareness about what it calls the threat of privatization by for-profit clinics. Executive Director, […]

Health care rally planned for Tuesday

(June 1, 2017) By: Valerie MacDonald, Northumberland Today A campaign travelling through Northumberland to warn of the potential privatization of health care comes to Cobourg June 6 at the corner of Elgin and Strathy Road, near Northumberland Mall. The Ontario Health Coalition (of which Northumberland is a member) and the Hamilton Health Coalition are touring […]

Giant teddy bear to hit town with health message

(June 8, 2017) By: The Chatham Voice The Ontario and Chatham-Kent Health Coalitions are touring a giant teddy bear with the slogan, “We Can’t Bear to Lose Medicare,” to 20 towns from late May to mid-June to raise awareness about the threat of health care privatization. The bear, which is seven feet tall and five […]

Health coalition continuing hospital press

(May 24, 2017) By: Steve Henschel, Niagara This Week WELLAND — Despite the $9 billion earmarked for new hospitals in the provincial budget, and the assertion that some of that will be directed to a new Niagara Falls hospital, the fight isn’t over in Welland. Speaking at a Niagara Health Coalition Save Our Welland Hospital […]

EVENT: Fight to save hospital heads to Queen’s Park

(June 15, 2017) Members of the community championing the fight to save Welland’s hospital and other hospitals in Niagara are heading to Queen’s Park next Wednesday. Sue Hotte, chair of the Niagara Health Coalition, said there is still room for more people on the bus that will leave from Welland’s Market Square to head to […]

Fight for Welland Hospital not over yet

(May 21, 2017) By: Laura Barton, Welland Tribune “It is not a done deal.” That was the main message delivered by Sue Hotte, chair of the Save Our Welland Hospital group, and other speakers gathered at a press conference held in Welland Friday morning. Their goal was to get the word out that Welland Hospital can still […]

Emergency services first on scene at Northumberland Hills Hospital medical distress call, says witness

(May 11, 2017) By: Pete Fisher, Northumberland Today COBOURG – Northumberland Hills Hospital is reviewing its policies after a person went into medical distress on the property and emergency services were first to arrive on scene. Patrick Ahern, 31, from Peterborough said was he witnessed Tuesday around 11:30 a.m. just inside the main entrance of NHH “was so […]

Public hearing from Ontario Health Coalition will focus on hospital reform

(June 22, 2017) By: Bruce Chessell, Woodstock Sentinel-Review Residents of Oxford County will soon have the chance to have their voices heard when it comes to public health reform. A public hearing on public hospital reform will be held in Ingersoll on June 26. Hosted by the Oxford Coalition for Social Justice and the Ontario Health Coalition, […]

Older Persons Day a time to push for change

posted June 12, 2017

(September 28, 2017) By: Natalie Mehra, Executive Director, OHC In May, The Hamilton Spectator reported that for the first time in Hamilton and Ontario, seniors outnumber children. In fact, in Hamilton, Burlington and Grimsby almost one in every five people is 65 or older. Hamilton is slightly greyer than the rest of Ontario and the […]

RELEASE: Private Clinics & the Threat to Public Medicare in Canada: Results of Surveys with Private Clinics and Patients

(June 10, 2017) From the autumn of 2016 to the spring of 2017, researchers at the Ontario Health Coalition called all the private clinics we could reach across Canada. Included in the survey are private surgical clinics including cataract surgery clinics, MRI/CT, colonoscopy/endoscopy clinics and “boutique” physician clinics. In total, we surveyed a sample of […]

EVENT: Public Consultation on Public Hospital Reform

(June 2, 2017) Now is the time when we can make a difference Organizations and individuals are invited to attend and submit oral or written submissions on reforming Ontario’s hospitals in the public interest. We are holding public hearings across the province. Your input will be used to help create a report on reforming hospitals […]

EVENT: We Can’t “Bear” to Lose Medicare Tour

(June 2, 2017) The giant teddy bear is 7-feet tall and 4 1/2 foot-wide: a much-loved and friendly prop to help educate our communities about the threat of health care privatization. Private for-profit clinics are trying to take over services from our local public non-profit hospitals. They charge user fees amounting to hundreds or even thousands […]

ER wait times at Brampton Civic unlikely to improve despite promises

(May 2, 2017) By: Radhika Panjwani, Brampton Guardian The Ontario government’s much publicized announcement of approximately $518 million in funding to hospitals including Brampton Civic Hospital (BCH) to alleviate the patient gridlock in the emergency department, may have just been eyewash designed to squelch the outcry about the inhumane conditions experienced by patients, say some […]

New provincial budget brings more money to Peterborough’s health care and mental health

(April 28, 2017) By: Taylor Clysdale, Peterborough This Week The areas in which Peterborough will benefit from the new provincial budget will be foremost in health care, says the city’s member of provincial parliament. “It’s all about making life more affordable for Ontarians,” says MPP Jeff Leal. Several new additions to the 2016-2017 provincial budget, […]

Ontario budget ‘really designed’ for Peterborough riding: Leal

(April 28, 2017) By: Joelle Kovach MPP Jeff Leal says the new provincial budget is one that’s tailor-made for local people. “This was a budget really designed, in many ways, for the residents of Peterborough riding,” he said. Take the promise of free prescription medication for Ontarians under age 25, for instance. Leal says there […]

Youth drug plan on way; Prescription medication free to those under age 25

(April 28, 2017) By: THE CANADIAN PRESS Ontario’s Liberal government is promising to inject billions of new dollars into health care in its first balanced budget in a decade, a fiscal plan designed to appeal to nearly everyone in the province ahead of an election next summer. Crafted by a party in power since 2003 […]

RELEASE: Ontario Budget Health Care Investments Do Not Meet Expectations: Hospital Funding Inadequate to Stop Cuts & Meet Community’s Needs

(April 28, 2017) Despite the hype, the Ontario Budget did not provide the relief from a decade of hospital cuts that was hoped. Overall health funding will increase by 3 percent, less than the rest of the public sector. Home and community care funding increases are positive and appear to remain at the same rate […]

Free prescription medicines for those 24 and under first step to national pharmacare plan: Sousa

(April 27, 2017) By: Rob Ferguson, Queen’s Park Bureau Prescription medicines will be free for Ontario residents 24 and under starting in January as the provincial budget extends the same drug coverage given to 3.9 million seniors and people on social assistance. The groundbreaking measure, the first of its kind in Canada, is called OHIP+ […]

Hoskins wrong about hospital closures

(April 28, 2017) By: Sue-Ann Levy, Toronto Sun Health Minister Eric Hoskins got rather miffed with me Tuesday when I suggested his government was simply reinventing the wheel by closing hospitals on the one hand and offering $9 billion in this year’s budget to construct new ones. In their nice glossy 2017 budget book, the […]

Des attentes élevées pour le budget provincial

PUBLIÉ LE JEUDI 27 AVRIL 2017 À 5 H 54 On sait que la santé sera au coeur de ce budget. C’est la préoccupation principale des Ontariens et le gouvernement a l’intention d’investir massivement dans ce secteur. La Coalition de la santé de l’Ontario s’attend à voir le financement des hôpitaux augmenter de façon significative […]

Ontario set to begin shifting home care responsibilities

(April 25, 2017) By: Kate Porter, CBC News Ontario begins dissolving its 14 community care access centres next week, but critics insist the move won’t cut red tape, free up money or improve home care for patients. Every year more than 700,000 people in Ontario count on the personal support workers, nurses and therapists who […]

Ontario NDP’s policy initiative for Universal PharmaCare applauded by Ontario Health Coalition

(April 25, 2017) By: Lynne Brown NDP Leader Andrea Horwath announced Saturday at the NDP’s 2017 Convention that an NDP provincial government would create Ontario’s first universal Pharmacare plan. The convention took place at the Metro Convention Centre in downtown Toronto from April 21st to 23rd. “You shouldn’t have to empty your wallet to get […]

Can anything be done to prevent hospital misdiagnoses?

(April 19, 2017) By: CBC RADIO In just three months, there has been a spate of misdiagnoses in Canadian emergency rooms, some with tragic results. A three-year old girl in Abbotsford, B.C.,died after her pneumonia went untreated, despite repeated visits to the hospital. In Mississauga, Ont, after being sent home twice with a diagnosis of […]

Special Report, Part two: Five-year-old Sam Shalley died suddenly in the Woodstock ER after being wrongly diagnosed with croup

(March 29, 2017) By: Heather Rivers, Woodstock Sentinel-Review One of the last memories Melanie Carter has of her youngest grandson Sam Shalley is that of an excited five-year-old who was handed his very first Woodstock library card. Carter, who Sam affectionately called Gam, will never forget that day and giant smile on her grandson’s face. […]

Boutique clinics are turning Canada’s health care into a two-tiered system, critics say

(March 19, 2017) By: Jayson Maclean How much private influence can we have in Canada’s health care system before the dreaded ‘two-tier’ label becomes the more appropriate one? In Ontario, the line has already started to blur, say health care advocates, who see both a public system operating chronically underfunded hospitals and a suite of […]

Health Care Advocates Dismayed with Ottawa’s Divide and Conquer Tactics

(March 11, 2017) By: Lynne Brown Hopes for a Canadian Health Accord Dashed as Provinces Signs Deal Toronto/Ottawa/Edmonton: In a joint statement, The Ontario Health Coalition, Canadian Health Coalition and Friends of Medicare have released the following: The Ontario, Quebec and Alberta governments, which had initially held out for better, were compelled to sign onto […]

Ontario Health Coalition makes Public Health care front and centre in upcoming Bi-Election

(March 4, 2017) By: Lynne Brown On Thursday evening, March 2nd, 2017, the hall at Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 25 held a good sized turn-out of citizens from Sault Ste. Marie & area united in one cause – Public Healthcare. Public Healthcare accessible to all Ontario residents – not mired in a system where privatization […]

Ontario hospital bed crunch ‘extreme’

(February 11, 2017) By: Antonella Artuso, Toronto Sun Ontario has 2.3 hospital beds per 1,000 residents — barely ahead of countries with rock bottom bed counts like Mexico and Chile, the Ontario Health Coalition says. Executive Director Natalie Mehra said the average across Canada is 3.5 per 1,000 patients. “The hospital bed crunch is extreme […]

Canada’s Health Coalitions Warn Cuts Coming to Health Care

(February 10, 2017) By: Content Team Canada’s Health Coalitions signed a joint statement and held a media conference Thursday on the recent bilateral health care deals and called for a united health accord. Since late December the federal government has abandoned a national health accord negotiation and is now signing bilateral health deals with the […]

More hospital beds needed in Durham: health coalition

(January 12, 2017) By: Keith Gilligan, Oshawa This Week On the same day the province’s financial accountability office warned billions will need to be cut from health care so the government can balance its books, the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) said the system is already strained due to funding cuts. In a news conference at […]

Hospitals in Ontario, Sudbury, overcrowded: group

(January 10, 2017) By: Sudbury Star Staff Hospitals in the province, including Health Sciences North in Sudbury, are bursting at the seams, the Ontario Health Coalition warned Tuesday. In a release, the coalition said there are bed shortages across the province and blames lack of provincial funding for the problem. “In Sudbury, Hamilton, and across […]

Sudbury’s hospital overflowing

(January 11, 2017) By: Jim Moodie, The Sudbury Star As white stuff accumulated outside Tuesday, the number of patients within the Ramsey Lake Health Centre was simultaneously snowballing. “At this moment we’re at 116 per cent occupancy,” said David McNeil, vice-president of patient services at Health Sciences North. “We’ve surged up into areas of the […]

Long-term Care: Seeking solutions on seniors’ issues

(November 3, 2016) By: Heather Rivers, Woodstock Sentinel-Review In Sweden, long-term care residents are cared for in a very different manner than those residing in Canadian homes. According to Dr. Margaret McGregor, who was part of the Re-imagining Long-term Residential Care: An International Study in Promising Practices project that included researchers from Canada, the U.S., […]

Seniors Calling. Public or Private Pursuit in Long-Term Care

(October 25, 2016) By: Lynne Brown A research paper published earlier this year in the journal PLOS Medicine, found that, ‘For-profit nursing homes provide “inferior” care to seniors, and though the evidence isn’t perfect it’s strong enough to suggest that policy makers should pay attention.’ The authors draw on years of research, in the U.S., […]

Health Alliance needs to get in cash queue

(October 24, 2016) Representatives from the Chatham-Kent Health Coalition, the Wallaceburg-Walpole Island Health Coalition, along with the executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition, Natalie Mehra, recently met with Rob DeVitt, Supervisor for Chatham Kent Health Alliance and Ken Deane, interim CEO for CKHA. Many issues were discussed, but there is one issue that is […]

Ontario Health Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins orders hospital mergers in Scarborough

(October 19, 2016) By: Mike Adler, Scarborough Mirror Ontario’s health minister has directed hospitals within Scarborough and Durham Region to merge, and will hear public comments on his decision until mid-November. Dr. Eric Hoskins’ order, announced Friday, Oct. 14, will break up the Rouge Valley Health System, merging its Centenary campus in Scarborough with The […]

Province asks former TD Bank CEO to look at digital health system

(October 7, 2016) By: Allison Jones, The Canadian Press Ontario is asking the banker who recommended privatizing Hydro One to turn his attention to the province’s digital health system. Health Minister Eric Hoskins announced in a statement Friday that he had asked former TD Bank CEO Ed Clark, who headed up an advisory council that […]

Report slams hospital merger

(December 1, 2016) By: Graeme McNaughton, The Oshawa Express With the Ajax-Pickering hospital set to join the Lakeridge Health family, something is not adding up for the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC). According to a report recently released by the group, the merger will save approximately $300,000 every year. While six-figure savings are nothing to sneeze […]

More hospital beds needed in Durham: health coalition

Ontario Health Coalition concerned for overworked staff at long-term care facilities

(October 25, 2016) By: Ellwood Shreve, Chatham Daily News The Ontario Health Coalition is concerned already overworked staff at long-term care homes could come under greater scrutiny in light of a Woodstock woman being charged with eight counts of first-degree murder in connection with the death of elderly residents at facilities in Woodstock and London. […]

Private clinics ripping off public in Ontario: OHC

(March 25, 2014) By: The Bulletin Ontario Health Coalition — In August 2013, a routine mandatory public notice posted on the government’s regulations website revealed that a change in the ownership and control of public hospital services in Ontario was being planned. The Ontario government was preparing to introduce two new regulations to cut clinical […]

Medical students fear for health care as extra billing grows

(October 6, 2016) By: Nick Parle and Sarah Hanafi, Hamilton Spectator Medical students across Canada are concerned that a growing number of physicians are charging their patients fees for medically necessary care. We worry about the impact this trend will have on our future patients and our publicly funded, universal health-care system. The practice, known as […]

Long-term Care: Are we failing our seniors?

(November 1, 2016) By: Heather Rivers, Woodstock Sentinel-Review WOODSTOCK – It’s not the staff’s fault, it’s the system. As news sinks in that Woodstock resident Elizabeth Wettlaufer has been charged with eight counts of first-degree murder in a long-term care facility – seven of which occurred in Woodstock and one in London – locals are […]

Protection of personal health information is paramount in this review – Hoskins

(October 9, 2016) By: Allison Jones, THE CANADIAN PRESS Ontario is asking the banker who recommended privatizing Hydro One to turn his attention to the province’s digital health system. Health Minister Eric Hoskins announced in a statement Friday that he had asked former TD Bank CEO Ed Clark, who headed up an advisory council that […]

Lack of care and oversight in long-term care homes considered “chronic and epidemic”

(October 26, 2016) By: Heather Rivers, Woodstock Sentinel Review The long term care system in Ontario is unable to provide adequate care and oversight to prevent potential horror stories from happening, according to Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition. Mehra said long term care facilities in Ontario are so underfunded it is […]

RELEASE: Ontario Budget Health Care Investments Do Not Meet Expectations: Hospital Funding Inadequate to Stop Cuts & Meet Community’s Needs

(April 27, 2017) Despite the hype, the Ontario Budget did not provide the relief from a decade of hospital cuts that was hoped. Overall health funding will increase by 3 percent, less than the rest of the public sector. Home and community care funding increases are positive and appear to remain at the same rate […]

BRIEFING NOTE: Pre-Budget Note

(April 26, 2017) In a speech April 13 to the Empire Club, Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa reported that in every corner of Ontario he heard from residents, civic leaders and businesses that health care and public hospitals are top priority issues, and he promised significant investments in this year’s budget. These increases will follow […]

UPDATE: ONDP Pharmacare Plan: A Welcome Step Toward Comprehensive Drug Coverage for All

(April 24, 2017) The Ontario Health Coalition welcomes the Ontario NDP’s announcement today of a proposed drug program to expand coverage to 2.2 million Ontarians. Just as public health care, or “medicare”, covers hospitals and doctors, public pharmacare would be a public insurance program covering medicines. It would improve the current patchwork of private insurance […]

REPORT: Our Hospitals, Our Communities: Report on Hospital Care Surveys in Chatham-Kent

(March 28, 2017) In 2016 Ontario Minister of Health, Dr. Eric Hoskins appointed a Supervisor under the Public Hospitals Act to take over the leadership of the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, which includes the two Chatham hospitals on one site (Public General and St. Joseph’s) and the Sydenham District Hospital in Wallaceburg. Since his appointment, Supervisor […]

RELEASE: Health Care Advocates Dismayed with Ottawa’s Divide and Conquer Tactics: Hopes for a Canadian Health Accord Dashed as Provinces Signs Deal

(March 10, 2017) Toronto/Ottawa/Edmonton: The Ontario, Quebec and Alberta governments, which had initially held out for better, were compelled to sign onto a bilateral health funding deal with Ottawa today. In the federal election, the Trudeau government promised to break with the high-handed approach of the previous Harper government and negotiate a new Health Accord […]

RELEASE: CIHI/Commonwealth Fund study on health: the good the bad and what’s missing

(February 16, 2017) In the Canadian Institute for Health Information’s spin-off report from the annual Commonwealth Fund International Health Survey of 11 countries released today, Canada fared pretty well. Though the Canadian Institute for Health Information led its media messaging with wait times, it should be noted that the study ranks Canada at or above […]

MEDIA CONFERENCE: Canada’s Health Coalitions Call for a United Health Accord Federal Government Must Return to the Negotiation Table

(February 9, 2017) The Ontario Health Coalition was joined by provincial and territorial health coalitions across Canada in media conferences to decry the federal government’s decision to walk away from the table on negotiating a new Health Accord for Canada. The current bilateral deals pushed through by the federal government and some provinces and territories […]

RELEASE & BACKGROUND: Ontario Government Responsible for Overwhelmed Hospital Emergency Departments: Critical Bed Shortages “Systemic and Pervasive”

(January 10, 2017) Reports of critical and pervasive hospital bed shortages are streaming in from across Ontario. In Brantford, hospital officials recently reported the “emergency department is overwhelmed”. At Lakeridge Health, all four hospitals across Durham are so full that hospital managers set up an emergency “command centre”. In Ottawa and London health coalition members […]

RELEASE: As Prime Minister Trudeau meets with First Ministers, Health Coalition calls for both sides to give ground to forge a new Health Accord in the public interest

(December 9, 2016) In advance of tonight’s dinner discussion on health care between the provincial-territorial Premiers and the Prime Minister, the Ontario Health Coalition called out both sides for their intransigence and advocated a new Health Accord forged in the public interest. For months, provincial premiers and the federal government have been at odds over […]

UPDATE: 100 Patients, families and concerned residents traveled to the Ontario Legislature

100 Patients, families and concerned residents traveled to the Ontario Legislature as Wynne government forces through the mega-mergers of their local hospitals. This week, the Wynne government used extraordinary powers to order the forced merger of the hospitals in Durham and Scarborough. The merger will cost almost $50 million of dollars, taking this money away from […]

UPDATE & BRIEFING NOTES: Durham/Scarborough Hospital Merger Mania

(November 24, 2016) UPDATE POSTED NOV. 24: Minister of Health Orders Mega-Hospital Merger “By Fiat”: Health Coalition Outraged, Vows to take its Fight to the Legislature Durham/Scarborough – The Ontario Health Coalition expressed outrage in reaction to news that the Minister of Health is forcing through massive hospital mergers in Scarborough and Durham affecting more than […]

UPDATE: Giant Teddy Bear Brings Message of Compassion to London

(October 18, 2016) We Can’t “Bear” To Lose Medicare!! The London Health Coalition is launching a Care Bear Tour today on Tuesday, October 18th. With a giant teddy bear, aptly nicknamed “Tommy”, the coalition seeks to convey the message that care (not profit) must be the centre of our public health care system. Their goal […]

RELEASE: As Health Ministers from Across Canada Meet to Negotiate Health Accord

(October 17, 2016) Months of sparring in the media may come to an end this week as Health Ministers from across Canada meet to discuss a new Health Accord. This morning, representatives of the Canadian & Ontario Health Coalitions, Canadian Doctors for Medicare and the Council of Canadians gathered outside the King Edward hotel where […]

RELEASE: Coalition Applauds MPP Gates’ Call for Premier to Answer on Status of Niagara Falls Hospital

On Thursday, in advance of Premier Kathleen Wynne’s visit to Niagara Falls today, MPP Wayne Gates questioned the Health Minister in the Ontario Legislature on the slow pace of approval for a new hospital in Niagara Falls. He advocated that local contractors be used in the construction. All this is good. There is no question that the Niagara Falls hospital is old and a new one is required. Two years ago, the Niagara Health System submitted to the Ministry of Health a Phase I proposal to build a new hospital in Niagara Falls that has not yet been approved. Unfortunately, here in Niagara, as is the case in Scarborough, Durham, Picton and other areas, the government has used a vague and distant promise of a new hospital in what appears to be an attempt to stifle dissent about closure of needed health care services and a dismantling of local governance.

RELEASE: Coalition Warns Health Minister: Privatization of Ontario’s Health Systems for Patient Records and Information Will Incite Massive Public Opposition

(October 7, 2016) Banking Executive is Not Trusted to Protect Patient or Public Interest, Especially After Hydro Privatization Debacle Toronto –This afternoon, the Wynne government has made public a formal invitation from the Health Minister to Ed Clark to “assess and validate the value these [health data, e-health records and related intellectual property and infrastructure] […]

RELEASE: Throne Speech: Wynne’s Opportunity to Chart Improved Course for Health Care

(September 12, 2016) With today’s Throne Speech, the Wynne government is trying for a fresh start. If this is to succeed, some long-simmering health care issues must be addressed to realign her government’s health policies with the values and priorities of Ontarians. “More than eight years of austerity budgets in Ontario’s public community hospitals has […]

Will Patients Be Forced to Pay For Needed Health Care?

posted September 6, 2016

(September 6, 2016) Private Clinic Supreme Court Challenge in B.C. Starting Today Could Threaten Public Health Care Across Canada By Natalie Mehra, Executive Director, Ontario Health Coalition Mariel Schoof was referred to a private clinic in B.C. for sinus surgery. She was appalled when she was charged more than $6,000. So she wrote to her […]

CONFERENCE: Reforming Long-Term Care Homes in the Public Interest

(August 29, 2016) Last Updated: October 3, 2016 CONFERENCE Reforming Long-Term Care Homes in the Public Interest Friday October 28, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Bond Place Hotel, 65 Dundas St. E., Toronto The Ontario Health Coalition is hosting a pan-Canadian conference on reforming long-term care in the public interest, co-sponsored by the Canadian Health Coalition […]

CONFERENCE: Annual Health Action Assembly & Conference on Health Reform

(August 29, 2016) Health Action Assembly & Conference on Health Reform ASSEMBLY Saturday October 29, 9:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Metro Hall Rotunda, 55 John St., Toronto $20 – $40 sliding scale per day Forging a strategy Reports from member groups and local health coalitions across Ontario on events and activities in their […]

Sources say the provincial Liberals are pulling the plug on yearly inspections at more than 500 homes, just three years after they were found violating their own inspection law

(June 28, 2016) By: Jonathan Sher, The London Free Press Three years after it vowed to do more to protect nursing home residents, Ontario’s Liberal government is quietly pulling the plug on yearly inspections at more than 500 homes, Postmedia has learned. Starting next week, 84% of Ontario’s 630 long-term care homes will get a full inspection […]

Giant Rocking Chair Tour

(June 25, 2016) By: Chris Abbott, Postmedia Network Ontario Health Coalition’s giant 10-foot rocking chair arrived in Tillsonburg Tuesday afternoon. “The chair is a symbol of care,” said Ontario Health Coalition volunteer Peter Boyle, from Jones Falls (north of Kingston), in front of Maple Manor Nursing Home, “and the Giant Rocking Chair Tour is about […]

Ontario Health coalition visits St. Thomas with warning about the state of nursing homes in the province

(June 22, 2016) By: Jennifer Bieman, St. Thomas Times-Journal The Ontario Health Coalition made a stop in St. Thomas Tuesday, bringing a big chair and a big message. Elgin Mall played host to a three-metre tall rocking chair, the symbol of the health care advocacy group’s third annual campaign to improve long-term care. The Railway […]

EVENT: 9th Annual Organic Garlic Fundraiser Kicks-Off!

(June 21, 2016) The Ontario Health Coalition works to improve the public health system: to save local health care services, stop cuts and privatization and keep our community hospitals vibrant. We believe compassion should come before profit and all should have equal access to care based on need, not wealth. We work to ensure that […]

EVENT: Giant Rocking Chair Tour 2016: Rock-in for Improved Care!

(June 21, 2016) Rocking Chair Tour Update The Ontario Health Coalition’s giant 10-foot tall rocking chair with its message of the urgent need to bring in a 4-hour per day minimum care standard and improve access to long-term care has visited 17 communities (only 2 more to go!) including Prescott, Plantagenet, Orleans, Carleton Place, Almonte, Barry’s […]

Health Coalition raises Ontario’s long-term care issues in Orangeville

(June 21, 2016) By: James Matthews, Orangeville Banner There’s a glaring need for minimum care standards at long-term care facilities, according to the Ontario Health Coalition. The coalition situated a 10-foot tall wooden rocking chair on Orangeville’s Broadway near Blind Line on Saturday (June 18). It was part of a 19-town tour designed to increase […]

Giant rocking chair arrives in Essex County as part of tour focusing on lack of care for seniors

(June 21, 2016) By: Trevor Wilhelm, Windsor Star Health care advocates pushing the government to improve access and standards at long-term care homes stopped in Essex County Monday, and they brought a giant rocking chair to drive home their point. Volunteers criss-crossing Ontario with the 10-foot chair said it’s a symbol of the care that […]

Rocking chair brings awareness to long term care facilities

(June 21, 2016) By: Kelly Snider, Orléans Star GOVERNMENT. Members of the Ontario Health Coalition brought a 10-foot tall wooden rocking chair to Orléans on June 14, to help bring awareness to the issues surrounding the care standards at long-term care facilities. “Our goal is to [bring attention] to the issues of the inadequate care […]

Ontario Health Coalition and the Oxford Coalition for Social Justice are demanding increased staffing and access to care at long-term care facilities, as well as a reduction in wait times

(June 21, 2016) By: Heather Rivers, Woodstock Sentinel-Review WOODSTOCK — Rocking chairs are supposed to be considered a symbol of comfort and safety, as well as a reassurance that someone is taking care of us. But on Tuesday afternoon, a giant rocking chair in Woodstock was used to symbolize what the Ontario Health Coalition considers […]

Rocking chair health campaign rocks into Norwood

(June 21, 2016) By: Bill Freeman, Trent Hills Independent Norwood – The provincial government needs to make sure long-term care residents get a minimum of at least four hours of hands-on care a day, says the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC). The Coalition’s “It’s Time to Care” Rocking Chair campaign stopped in Norwood, July 16 to […]

Giant rocking chair stops in Alliston

(June 17, 2016) By: Maija Hoggett, Alliston Herald The Ontario Health Coalition brought their campaign to improve the province’s long-term care homes to Alliston today. Volunteers with the coalition set up a giant rocking chair on Victoria Street East near Sir Frederick Banting Road to raise awareness for its campaign. The goals are to have […]

Giant Rocking Chair Tour Visits Barry’s Bay

(June 16, 2016) By: 96.1 Renfrew A rocking chair symbolizes comfort and safety – and that’s why a giant 10 foot rocking chair was in Barry’s Bay yesterday morning. The Ontario Health Coalition is touring 19 towns across Ontario with the big wooden chair to raise awareness about improving the care standards at long term […]

Giant rocking chair tour to reach Orangeville Saturday

(June 16, 2016) By: Orangeville Citizen A giant 10-foot-tall wooden rocking chair is touring 19 towns across Ontario, including Orangeville this Saturday. The Orangeville stop is scheduled for 10 a.m., at the northwest corner Broadway and Blind Line, a few steps from the Avalon Retirement Centre. A news release from a coalition of health care […]

Giant rocking chair comes to Orléans to highlight long-term care facility issues

(June 16, 2016) By: Brier Dodge, Orleans News A giant rocking chair just over three-metres high was set up in front of the Saint-Louis Residence in Orléans on June 14 by a group that says not enough is being done for people living in long-term care homes. Members of the Ontario Health Coalition are calling […]

Giant Rocking Chair To Raise Awareness In Bancroft

(June 15, 2016) By: Andreas Pandikiu, My Bancroft Now Barry’s Bay and Bancroft residents will get to see a 10-foot tall wooden rocking chair today. The chair will make an appearance to raise awareness to the need for improved care for long-term care facilities in Ontario. The Ontario Health Coalition says it will be collecting […]

A 10-foot tall rocking chair stops in Plantagenet

(June 15, 2016) By: Cristina Sanza PLANTAGENET – A 10-foot tall rocking chair made a pit stop on the front lawn of the Pinecrest Nursing Home on June 13, as part of a tour organized by The Ontario Health Coalition to raise awareness about the lack of long-term care standards in Ontario. The tour […]

Giant rocking chair brought to Orleans to raise awareness about long term care

(June 14, 2016) By: Alison Sandor, 580 CFRA An odd sight Tuesday morning in Orleans, as a giant rocking chair was set up on the grass near the Bruyere long term care facility on Hiawartha Park. The Ontario Health Coalition is touring the province with the rocker to raise awareness about care standards at long […]

Referendum underway on future of health care

(May 28, 2016) By: CTV Windsor It’s voting day across Ontario on the future of health care. An unofficial provincewide referendum is underway. Activists are asking people to vote in the Stop Hospital Cuts Now Referendum. The Ontario Health Coalition, supported locally by Making Waves Windsor Essex, are at workplaces and high-profile locations such as […]

RELEASE: More than 94,000 Ontarians Join in Grassroots Referendum to Stop Devastating Hospital Cuts

(May 31, 2016) Massive Piles of Votes delivered to Opposition Party Leaders Outside Ontario Legislature Toronto – From across Ontario representatives from dozens of communities facing devastating cuts to their community hospitals carted thousands of ballots to the Ontario Legislature. The votes – 93,840 of them as of last night – were cast in a […]

Death by 1,000 Cuts

(May 30, 2016) By: Christine Blizzard, The Toronto Sun The prognosis is dire. Deep cuts to the province’s hospitals have left them on life support. Sydennham District Hospital in Wallaceburg is symptomatic of the squeeze that’s strangling small-town hospitals across the province. The community was asked to pitch in and raise cash for a new […]

Liberals strangling small-town hospitals

(May 29, 2016) TORONTO – The prognosis is dire. Deep cuts to the province’s hospitals have left them on life support. Sydenham District Hospital in Wallaceburg is symptomatic of the squeeze that’s strangling small-town hospitals across the province. The community was asked to pitch in and raise cash for a new palliative-care unit. Residents rose to the […]

Wynne’s health-care plan is perpetual crisis

(May 28, 2016) When the Ontario Health Coalition tells you Mike Harris did a better job of running the health-care system than Kathleen Wynne, it says something. The coalition advocates for publicly funded medicare, representing more than 400 unions, medical professionals, non-profits, student, ethnic, cultural, women’s, seniors’ and anti-poverty groups. Politically, it leans firmly to […]

When it comes to hospitals it’s ‘Hacksaw Kathleen’: Ontario Health Coalition

Kathleen Wynne and her Liberal government are hacking and slashing hospital budgets in a way that’s more chaotic than Mike Harris ever was, says a coalition fighting to save hospital beds. “Chainsaw Mike,” as Harris was dubbed, was “more honest and more transparent,” than Wynne, said Natalie Mehra of the Ontario Health Coalition. If Harris […]

Thousands vote locally in hospital referendum

(May 28, 2016) By: Gord Young, The Nugget A province-wide referendum aimed at stopping service cuts at Ontario hospitals wrapped up Saturday after garnering thousands of votes from local residents. Mike Bisaillon, an organizer in North Bay, said local voting results will be announced during a news conference Monday, while the province-wide tally will be […]

Unofficial referendum underway to protest hospital cuts

(May 28, 2016) By: Colleen MacDonald, CTV London An unofficial province-wide referendum is underway as a novel way to oppose budget cuts to hospitals. The Ontario Health Coalition organized the volunteer-led Stop Hospital Cuts Now Referendum asking Ontario residents to vote yes or no to the statement, “Ontario’s government must stop the cuts to our […]

UPDATE: Due to overwhelming demand, you can now vote in the Ontario-wide Referendum by e-mail!

(May 27, 2016) Please distribute as widely as possible. Due to overwhelming demand and accessibility issues, we are providing an email- in ballot for the cross-province referendum to stop the hospital cuts. We will not be doing an online vote as they are too easy to corrupt and we want to maintain the integrity […]

A serious note on saving our hospitals

posted May 27, 2016

(May 27, 2016) By: Natalie Mehra, Executive Director, OHC Ontario’s hospital cuts are the deepest in the country, and despite claims by government, the services that are being dismantled in local public hospitals are not replaced in community care. In fact, many communities are losing vital services and across the province whole categories of services […]

Every vote counts as Ontario Health Coalition looks to put pressure on province

(May 22, 2016) By: Patrick Bales, The Orillia Packet & Times Orillians had a chance to voice their thoughts on cuts to the Ontario health-care system Saturday at the ODAS Park Farmers’ Market. Volunteers from the Ontario Health Coalition had their makeshift polling station open, collecting signatures and votes, hoping to gather enough momentum to […]

Health-care referendum planned

(May 18, 2016) By: Jim Blake, Chatham Voice Ontarians who are upset about the level of health-care funding are being urged to participate in a province-wide referendum on health care cuts from now through May 28. Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition, said the referendum will ask residents to vote yes or […]

SAH head applauds coalition efforts to see health-care dollars boosted, but says Ontario’s economy must be considered

(May 18, 2016) By: Jeffrey Ougler, Sault Star SAULT STE. MARIE – While Sault Area Hospital president and chief executive officer Ron Gagnon may agree with Ontario Health Coalition contentions hospital coffers could use more cash, he argues the current state of Ontario’s economy must be considered when gauging health-care financing. “Funding to hospitals has not […]

Symbolism won’t save health care

(May 18, 2016) By: Dave Dawson, Orillia Packet & Times Ontario’s health-care system is on life support. It’s a little like a person who smoked and ate poorly his whole life and, upon learning he has cancer and a myriad of potentially fatal health problems, decides to begin pursuing a healthy lifestyle. Likely — sadly […]

Coalition hopes ‘referendum’ persuades province to stop cuts to health care

(May 18, 2016) By: Mehreen Shahid, Orillia Packet & Times A group that is taking its “grassroots referendum” movement across the province to protest health-care cuts is inviting local residents to give their two cents’ worth. The Ontario Health Coalition (OHC), a volunteer-based organization, will set up stations in 20 communities, including Orillia, this month. […]

Orillia Health Coalition promotes referendum

(May 18, 2016) By: Frank Matys, Orillia Today Do you oppose continued hospital cuts? That’s the question residents will be asked during a referendum aimed at safeguarding hospitals from chronic underfunding. Organizers of the upcoming vote acknowledge the answer may be painfully obvious to patients and staff affected by budget shortfalls, but they argue the […]

Coalition Holds Referendum on Cuts

(May 17, 2016) By: Ken Hashizume, Bayshore Broadcasting News Centre OHC will be holding votes in 20 locations to protest funding cuts to hospitals. Orillia is joining the Ontario Health Coalition’s initiative to hold a referendum on the cuts to the funding of hospitals in Ontario. A rally organized by the Orillia Health Coalition was […]

Ontario’s major hospitals operating over capacity, documents reveal

(May 16, 2016) By: Jane Taber, The Globe and Mail Ontario’s major hospitals are overcrowded, operating with 100 per cent of their acute care beds occupied, sometimes trying to squeeze in even more, creating potential hazards for patients and leading to inadequate care, according to documents obtained by the New Democratic Party. The Thunder Bay […]

Ontario Health Coalition Referendum Advance Poll at Mill Market

(May 13, 2016) By: Lynne Brown On Saturday, May 14th, 2016, Mill Market will be the first, and official launch location in The Sault for the Ontario Health Coalition’s (OHC) Referendum on restorative funding to Ontario hospitals. From 9:45 to 3:00 pm, members of The Sault & Area Health Coalition will be set up in […]

Health coalition gathering votes for hospital cuts referendum

(May 12, 2016) Author: Jennifer Hamilton-McCharles, The Nugget Hundreds of North Bay and Area residents were stopped Thursday outside of Shoppers Drug Mart and No Frills on Lakeshore Drive as part of a province-wide referendum. The vote is to stop service cuts at Ontario hospitals. Organizers hope to collect 100,000 signatures across the province, including […]

‘It’s been nine years in a row of heath cuts and it has to stop’

(May 12, 2016) Author: Gord Young, The Nugget Voting is underway in North Bay as part of a province-wide referendum aimed at stopping service cuts at Ontario hospitals. A couple of advanced polling stations have been set up and Ontario Health Coalition volunteers will be fanning out to various high-traffic locations within the community to […]

Anger rising over Ontario health cuts

(May 12, 2016) Author: Sherri Sherbo, Windsor Star When we talk about the disturbing trend in Ontario health care, some members of the public seem hesitant to believe it affects them. Nothing could be further from the truth. The negative impact on our Ontario communities is far-reaching. Program closures, decreases in front-line staff, pay cuts […]

Critically ill patients sent to Sarnia due to ICU overload

(May 12, 2016) Author: Brian Cross, Windsor Star A surge in the number of critically ill patients that “far exceeded” the capacity of Windsor Regional Hospital’s intensive care units on Friday prompted three of them to be rushed by ambulance to Sarnia’s ICU. The situation is being cited by the Windsor Essex and Essex County health […]

Calling Code Red! Town Hall Meeting on Healthcare

(May 12, 2016) Author: Island Clippings, St. Joseph’s Islands LAST FRIDAY NIGHT’S TOWN HALL MEETING brought out several residents who all shared concern and outright anger about the continuous threats to our local hospital as well as the state of Ontario’s health care in general. Ontario is currently in the ninth consecutive year of real-dollar […]

Oxford Health Coalition is running advance polls for a community referendum started by a provincial coalition that wants to see more health care spending in Ontario

(May 12, 2016) Author: Megan Stacey, Woodstock Sentinel-Review The Oxford Health Coalition is making the rounds at municipal council meetings, asking for support from Oxford politicians as they fight for increased funding to health care services and hospitals locally and across the province. The group is a local branch of the Ontario Health Coalition, a […]

Ballots to be cast in ‘unofficial referendum’ on Midland hospital cuts

(May 11, 2016) Author: Travis Mealing, Midland Mirror MIDLAND – A group determined to fight proposed service cuts at Georgian Bay General Hospital (GBGH) has at least one more trick up its sleeve. Citizens of North Simcoe Concerned for Fair LHIN Funding has organized a local vote in an “unofficial referendum” spearheaded by the Ontario […]

Liberals should be ashamed of treatment of Scarborough and its hospitals

(May 9, 2016) Author: Scarborough Mirror Andrea Horwath says Ontario’s Liberal government “should be ashamed” about treating Scarborough and its hospitals with such disrespect. The government moved last month to support recommendations for some expensive hospital projects in Scarborough and West Durham, including planning for new hospitals to serve each region. But Horwath, Ontario’s New Democratic […]

Durham Health Coalition joins the Ontario-wide vote to protest provincial health-care cuts

(May 9, 2016) Author: Tabitha Reddekop, Metroland Media OSHAWA — The Durham Health Coalition wants local residents to vote in a May 28 referendum to stop cuts to local public health-care. The local group joined a province-wide referendum started by the Ontario Health Coalition on April 25, along with 19 other communities, to protest cuts through […]

Community members angry at CKHA plans for Sydenham Campus

(May 9, 2016) Author: Louis Pin, The Daily News It’s been a rough week for Natalie Mehra. As the executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition, Mehra was in North Bay a day before coming to Wallaceburg, a more-than 600-kilometre drive. At each stop she’s faced with cuts, disgruntled communities and difficult situations. And yet […]

Chronic underfunding hits Orillia’s hospital

(May 8, 2016) Author: Frank Matys, Orillia Today Chronic underfunding is taking a toll on Orillia’s hospital. The question is: what will be the impact on staff and patients if the local facility continues to face multi-million dollar shortfalls? In the eyes of the Ontario Health Coalition – a group dedicated to protecting public health […]

Horwath Says Sarnia Hospital Cuts Must End

(May 6, 2016) Author: Briana Carnegie, BlackburnNews.com Sarnia’s healthcare representatives spoke out against Liberal healthcare cuts during a meeting with Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath Friday. Horwath says hospital funding should be stable, predictable, and at minimum, keep pace with inflation and population growth. She says concerns raised during the Sarnia meeting are being echoed […]

Town hall meeting hears horror stories of funding, service cuts; Ontario Health Coalition to send results of unofficial referendum Wynne’s way

(May 6, 2016) Author: Jeffrey Ougler, Sault Star Natalie Mehra, Ontario Health Coalition executive director, decries what she describes as the profound lack of funding being divvied out to Ontario hospitals during a town hall meeting Thursday evening, hosted by the Sault and Area Health Coalition at Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 25. JEFFREY OUGLER/SAULT STAR […]

Andrea Horwath held a community roundtable in Sarnia Friday

(May 6, 2016) Author: Tyler Kula, Sarnia Observer Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath was in Sarnia Friday, hammering home her party’s call for new provincial minimums for hospital funding. Just two days earlier in Toronto she’d called for stable, predictable annual budget increases tied to inflation and population growth. “At this point our point is […]

Town Hall Meeting & Referendum. Ontario Health Coalition Urges Action on Hospital Funding Cuts.

(May 6, 2016) Author: Lynne Brown, SaultOnline Folgo DellaVedova, Past President of the Sault & Area Health Coalition opened a Town Hall Meeting at the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 25 on May 5th, 2016. “We are here to raise awareness and speak out about systematic hospital and health care concerns in our community.” said Della […]

Horwath Says Sarnia Hospital Cuts Must End

Orillia hospital cuts worry residents

(May 5, 2016) Author: Frank Matys, Orillia Today As residents voice concern over budget-driven cuts at Orillia’s hospital, more details are emerging regarding other measures that are expected to bring savings to the bottom line. These include fewer hours at the hospital’s cafeteria and a reduction in operating days at the cancer clinic. The details […]

NDP supports health coalition’s planned referendum on hospital cuts

(May 5, 2016) Author: Gord Young, The Nugget Nickel Belt MPP France Gelinas is calling for improved health care funding in order to stem the cuts to jobs, beds and patient care at hospitals in Northern Ontario. “Health care in the North is the silent crisis of this Liberal government. Patients know it. And families […]

Health care in North a ‘silent crisis’

(May 5, 2016) Author: Gord Young, The Nugget Nickel Belt MPP France Gelinas is calling for improved health care funding to stem the cuts to jobs, beds and patient care at hospitals in Northern Ontario. “Health care in the North is the silent crisis of this Liberal government. Patients know it. And families feel it. […]

Provincial News: NDP’s Horwath commits to Health Care You Can Count On

(May 5, 2016) Author: Northumberland View Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says it’s time for the Liberal government to stop cutting hospital care and ensure that Ontario families can count on their health care system to be there when they need it. Horwath says hospital funding should be stable, predictable and, at a minimum, must […]

Ontario Health Coalition hosts town-hall-style about health-care cutbacks

(May 4, 2016) Author: Mehreen Shahid, Orillia Packet & Times The Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) is hoping for strength in numbers as it fights back against health-care cuts. Natalie Mehra, executive director of the OHC, spoke to a crowd of about 70 during a town-hall-style meeting Tuesday night at Orillia’s Best Western Mariposa Inn. The […]

‘I’m basically losing my job’: Dozens attend hospital meeting in Orillia

(May 4, 2016) Author: CTV Barrie It was standing room only on Tuesday night at a public forum to discuss cuts at Orillia’s Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital. Nurses, residents and councillors from around the region crammed into the Best Western Mariposa Inn to hear about what these cuts will mean for their local hospital and the […]

Report details cuts to Wallaceburg hospital

(May 4, 2016) Author: Wallaceburg Courier Press When it comes to cuts to hospital nursing care and hospital beds in Canada, Ontario leads the way. That was the conclusion of an Ontario Health Coalition report that was released last month. The report, ‘Beyond Limits: Ontario’s Deepening Hospital Cuts Crisis’, says cuts to community hospital care […]

Rallying to save our hospitals and patients’ lives

(May 4, 2016) Author: Robin MacLennan, Barrie Today Ontario’s Health Coalition is rallying volunteers in communities across the province to fight back against hospital cuts with a referendum on May 28 Elizabeth VanHoutte’s father died on a stretcher in the Emergency Department at OrilliaSoldiers’ Memorial Hospital. There were no beds available. “He spent 72 hours […]

Public forum to be held in Orillia to discuss recently announced hospital cuts

(May 3, 2016) Author: CTV Barrie Labour groups and health activists will be discussing recently announced cuts at an Orillia hospital during a forum on Tuesday night. The Ontario Health Coalition is hosting the event at the Best Western Mariposa Inn at 7 p.m. They want to get more people involved in fighting the cuts […]

Signatures still being collected for petition

(May 3, 2016) Author: Valerie MacDonald, Northumberland Today COBOURG – Now that the Northumberland Hills Hospital (NHH) support rally is behind her, Judy Sherwin says she is not planning anymore action at this time. But she has signed a petition initiated by the Northumberland Chapter of the Ontario Health Coalition and says there are more available to […]

Response to Orillia Hospital Cuts

(May 3, 2016) Author: Ian MacLennan, Bayshore Broadcasting Recent bed closures and jobs cuts at Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital in Orillia has caught the attention of the Ontario Health Coalition. The OHC, along with the Simcoe Muskoka District Labour Council, is hosting a town hall meeting on Tuesday night to hear feedback from the public about […]

Orillia hospital cuts focus of town hall

(May 3, 2016) Author: Frank Matys, Orillia Today Cuts to beds and jobs at Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital are the focus of a town hall meeting tonight (May 3). Jointly hosted by the Ontario Health Coalition and the North Simcoe Muskoka District Labour Council, the meeting takes place at Best Western Mariposa Inn and Conference Centre. […]

HSN employee elected to Ontario Council of Hospital Unions board

(May 3, 2016) Author: Sudbury.com Staff Sudbury’s Sharon Richer was elected as secretary-treasurer of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions/CUPE on April 28. Richer works at Health Sciences North and was until her election, vice-president of CUPE Local 1623. “This is the first time that a worker from the north has been elected to a […]

Meeting Tuesday regarding OSMH cutbacks

(April 29, 2016) By: Mehreen Shahid, Orillia Packet & Times After Wednesday’s announcement of job and bed losses at Orillia’s hospital, members of the public are being encouraged to attend a town-hall-style meeting next week. “You’re facing a very significant closure of chronic-care beds,” Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC), said […]

Ontario Health Coalition Town Hall Meeting & Referendum

(April 27, 2016) By: Lynne Brown, Sault Online Members of the local chapter of the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC), Sault Ste. Marie & Area Health Coalition, took their message outdoors, joining in a provincial campaign to elevate the conversation around health care cuts to hospitals. Not every city where local chapters of OHC were rallying […]

Guelph: Here’s your chance to vote on ‘bone-slicing cuts’

(April 27, 2016) By: GuelphToday Staff The Guelph Wellington Health Coalition is holding a ‘referendum’ Yesterday, Members of the Guelph Wellington Health Coalition met outside of the Guelph General to launch a volunteer led Referendum across Ontario in conjunction with 30 other cities for May 28. This referendum concerns the drastic bone slicing cuts to […]

Stop the cuts! – referendum launched

(April 27, 2016) By: Ryan Veldhuis, North Bay Now Some people have decided enough is enough with hospital cuts in Ontario are are taking provincial-wide action to make their voices heard. Ontario Health Coalition Organizer, Mike Bisaillon said locally the cuts have been too deep and something needs to change. “We’re having a referendum on […]

Kawartha Health Coalition urges residents to share their voice

(April 26, 2016) By: Catherine Whitnall, Kawartha Lakes This Week Ontario-wide referendum vote on provincial funding and restoration of community hospital services set for May 28 About two dozen people turned out to join City of Kawartha Lakes Health Coalition Chairperson Marlene Beaman-McQuay and Charlene Avon, of the Ontario Health Coalition, kick off the local […]

Ontario group plans citizen referendum on May 28

(April 26, 2016) By: Steve Rice, Stratford Beacon Herald Education is one of the main goals of a citizens group that took to the street Monday to announce an Ontario-wide referendum about “a crisis” in healthcare. “We’re entering the ninth consecutive year of a freeze in health care funding,” said Haldie Wicke, a nurse and […]

Questioning son’s care

(April 26, 2016) By: CHCH A Hamilton mother is grieving the death of her son who died at a Hamilton hospital last week. Kyle Thibodeau lived with a debilitating disease and his family says he should have never been released from the hospital. The 28 year old lived with granulomatous an illness that weakens the […]

Healthcare funding referendum launched

(April 26, 2016) By: Richard Coffin, 100.5 KiSS Across the province Ontario residents have a chance to vote in a health care referendum. OPSEU and the Ontario Health Coalition have launched their survey on public health care yesterday (Monday), including here in North Bay. Executive Board Member Mike Bisaillon says this is an important issue […]

Rallies Planned in London and Province-Wide to Protest Cuts to Health Care

(April 25, 2016) By: AM 980 People in London and across the province will be rallying Monday afternoon in an effort to stop cuts to Ontario’s health care system. Billing it as a ‘cross-Ontario referendum,’ the Ontario Health Coalition says demonstrators will gather in communities around the province to protest 196 million dollars in lost […]

Niagara Health Coalition to announce next step in save Welland Hospital campaign

(April 25, 2016) By: 610 CKTB News Members of the Niagara Health Coalition will be in front of Welland General hospital this morning at 10:30 to announce the next step in the fight to save the hospital. The group will be joined by the Mayors of Welland and Wainfleet to give details about a volunteer […]

RELEASE: Volunteer-Led Referendum Launched Across Ontario to Save Local Hospitals: Ontarians to Vote Saturday May 28

(April 25, 2016) Volunteer-Led Referendum Launched Across Ontario to Save Local Hospitals: Ontarians to Vote Saturday May 28 (Toronto, ON) […]

Health Coalition wants residents to go to the polls

(April 25, 2016) By: Chris Dawson, Baytoday.ca “I think there is also an issue with health services in the North and that we have to bring attention to it and our campaign is one way of doing that.” It may not be election time but the North Bay chapter of the Ontario Health Coalition is […]

Sault and Area Health Coalition protests for increase health-care funding

(April 25, 2016) By: Jeffrey Ougler, Sault Star SAULT STE. MARIE – The Ontario Health Coalition seeks residents’ two cents regarding the health of health care. Lack of funding is a key culprit as care continues to erode, members suggest. The coalition — including branches such as the Sault and Area Health Coalition — bank on the […]

Province-wide Ontario Health Coalition referendum kicked off Monday

(April 25, 2016) By: J.T. Lewis, Erie Media Volunteers with the Ontario Health Coalition have initiated a province-wide referendum Monday to put an end to cuts to the community hospitals and restore services, funding and staff to meet the community’s needs for care. In Welland, the referendum was kicked off in front of the Welland […]

Ontario Health Coalition holding unofficial referendum on healthcare funding

(April 25, 2016) By: Andrew Foote, CBC News Group aims to spread and fill their ballot boxes across province to pressure government Healthcare workers and community activists are hoping an Ontario-wide unofficial referendum will raise awareness of the concerns they have about provincial funding. The Ontario Health Coalition, a group of activists working to improve […]

Peterborough Health Coalition protests cuts to hospital funding

(April 25, 2016) By: Lance Anderson, Peterborough This Week Event begins campaign held until a ‘referendum’ on May 28 PETERBOROUGH — Volunteers hit the sidewalk at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre on Monday to protest cuts to hospital budgets. Members of the Peterborough Health Coalition, led by Roy Brady, says the cuts being seen across […]

Windsor Health Coalition kicks off referendum campaign

(April 25, 2016) By: Julie Kotsis, Windsor Star The Windsor Health Coalition launched its referendum campaign Monday aimed at pressuring the Ontario government to stop cuts to health care, including the loss of 169 registered nurses at local hospitals. Coalition chairman Ken Lewenza Jr. said the group is committed to a provincewide, volunteer-led vote next […]

Health Funding Referendum Launched

(April 25, 2016) By: Stephanie Chaves, BlackburnNews.com The Sarnia-Lambton Health Coalition and others across Ontario have launched a volunteer-based referendum. Local chair Shirley Roebuck says residents have until the end of next month to make their opinions known. The question on the ballot is, do you feel that hospital cuts should be stopped and proper […]

Referendum launched in Windsor to stop health care cuts

(April 25, 2016) By: Tom Morrison, OurWindsor.ca Members of the Windsor Health Coalition are asking people from the area to vote in an informal referendum to stop provincial cuts to the health care system. The referendum is being held across the province in conjunction with the Ontario Health Coalition May 28. Ken Lewenza Jr., chair […]

Campaign launched to stop the hospital cuts

(April 25, 2016) By: Jennifer Hamilton-McCharles, The Nugget Politicians react to two things – media attention and the power of a ballot. That was the message from Mike Bisallion, campaign organizer for the Stop Funding Cuts campaign during a news conference Monday at the Ontario Public Service Employees Union hall. The Ontario Health Coalition is […]

Sault and Area Health Coalition protests for increased health-care funding

LaFLECHE: Do you agree breathing is good?

(April 25, 2016) By: Grant LaFleche, The Standard If I have written it once, I have written it a million times — facts matter. We live in a world so awash in information, there is no excuse to make political decisions in a vacuum of data. Yet it happens constantly. After all, emotional narratives often […]

RELEASE: Ontario-wide Referendum Launch to Save Local Hospital Services

(April 25, 2016) JOIN THE ONTARIO-WIDE REFERENDUM Vote Saturday May 28 To save our local hospital services & stop the cuts to our community hospitals All across Ontario hospital beds, emergency departments, birthing and surgical units, palliative care and even entire hospitals are being closed down. Hundreds of nurses have been cut, along with the thousands […]

Price too high to nickel and dime health care: Campion

(April 25, 2016) By: Allan Benner, The Welland Tribune People from throughout the province are being asked to send a message to Queen’s Park on May 28. On that Saturday, the Ontario Health Coalition is asking residents to cast ballots for what it is calling a “referendum” on health care. The effort is aimed at […]

The Oxford Health Coalition is hosting a launch party for a referendum which will speak out against recent hospital budget cuts.

(April 24, 2016) By: 104.6 Heart FM The Ontario Health Coalition is launching a referendum, in order to speak out against recent cuts to rural hospital budgets. Connie Durling-Searles, the referendum coordinator for the Oxford Coalition gives us the details. “We’re seeing more community beds closing and more hospital services leaving. It’s not just affecting […]

Healthcare cut protests planned at Lindsay and Peterborough hospitals on Monday

(April 23, 2016) By: Kawartha Lakes This Week Events aim to draw addition to funding issues, beginning at 11 a.m. Watch for a giant ballot, banners and red balloons outside Ross Memorial Hospital on Monday morning. It’s not a celebration, but a call to draw attention to changes to funding to the facility. Organziers from […]

London kicking off referendum on hospital cuts

(April 23, 2016) By: CTV London Communities across the province are joining together in a referendum to save local hospitals. The volunteer campaign will kick off on Monday at various locations, including in London, in an effort to stop cuts that organizers say have created dangerous overcrowding and understaffing. The cross-Ontario referendum will be announced […]

Local campaign to stop hospital cuts joining with provincial referendum

(April 23, 2016) By: CTV Windsor Communities across the province are joining together in a referendum to save local hospitals. The volunteer campaign will kick off on Monday at various locations in an effort to stop cuts that organizers say have created dangerous overcrowding and understaffing. Locally, the Windsor Health Coalition and the Ontario Health […]

ADVISORY CORRECTION: Volunteers in Communities Across Ontario are Mounting Referendum to Save Local Hospitals

(April 22, 2016) *PLEASE NOTE: The Sudbury media launch has been postponed until further notice. Ontario is currently in the ninth consecutive year of real-dollar cuts to global hospital budgets, the longest stretch in Ontario’s history. These cuts mean that hospitals across the province, cannot keep up even with basic inflation. Hospitals have been […]

Hospital referendum pressed

(April 21, 2016) By: Allan Benner, The Tribune A provincewide referendum could make it “politically impossible” to close hospitals, says an Ontario Health Coalition board member. Doug Allan said a referendum the coalition is planning will “make it so that these cuts, and the threatened closure of the Port Colborne hospital, can be stopped — […]

Health coalition plans referendum on hospital cuts

(April 20, 2016) By: Gord Young, The Nugget The Ontario Health Coalition believes the province will put a stop to widespread hospital cuts if enough people speak out. That’s why the group is planning to give Ontario residents a voice on the matter by organizing a province-wide referendum. “It’s going to be a big fight,” […]

Health coalition plans referendum on hospital cuts

(April 20, 2016) Author: Gord Young, The Nugget The Ontario Health Coalition believes the province will put a stop to widespread hospital cuts if enough people speak out. That’s why the group is planning to give Ontario residents a voice on the matter by organizing a province-wide referendum. “It’s going to be a big fight,” […]

Guest Column: Feds must enforce Canada Health Act

(APRIL 20, 2016) By: Medicine Hat News Extra-billing in Ontario, private MRIs in Saskatchewan and user fees in Quebec: violations of the Canada Health Act are on the rise across the country. Canadian doctors are concerned about the impact of this trend not only on their patients, but on our public health care system as […]

‘No plans whatsoever’ to close Wallaceburg ER, health minister says

(April 19, 2016) By: CBC News Ontario Health Minister Erik Hoskins insists the province has no plans to close the the Wallaceburg Emergency Department at the Sydenham Campus-Wallaceburg District Hospital. Residents from the Walpole Island First Nation and Wallaceburg are holding a press conference Monday to talk about whey claim is a planned closure of […]

Tight budgets continue to constrain hospital

(April 19, 2016 ) By: Robert Washburn, Northumberland Today The turmoil facing the Ontario Health Ministry is palpable. A recent column in a mainstream newspaper acknowledged the troubled waters being navigated by Health Minister Eric Hoskins. Over the past 18 months, he has been under siege as doctors fight fee reductions, hospitals cry out for more […]

Sydenham District Hospital board meeting 5 p.m. Tuesday in Wallaceburg

(April 18, 2016) By: Tyler Kula, Sarnia Observer Wallaceburg’s emergency department is not on the chopping block, says Ontario’s premier. “There are no plans whatsoever to close the hospital’s emergency department,” Kathleen Wynne said Monday in Question Period at Queen’s Park. She was responding to a question from NDP Health Critic France Gelinas, speaking on […]

RELEASE: Success! Patients, Residents Travel 700 kilometres to Ontario Legislature to Save the Wallaceburg Hospital’s Emergency Department

(April 18, 2016) Breaking News: Success! Patients, Residents Travel 700 kilometres to Ontario Legislature to Save the Wallaceburg Hospital’s Emergency Department Toronto – At a press conference today at Queen’s Park, patients and concerned citizens from Wallaceburg issued an urgent plea to Ontario’s Minister of Health to stop the closure of the Wallaceburg Hospital’s […]

‘No plans whatsoever’ to close Wallaceburg ER, health minister says

(April 18, 2016) By: CBC News Ontario Health Minister Erik Hoskins insists the province has no plans to close the the Wallaceburg Emergency Department at the Sydenham Campus-Wallaceburg District Hospital. Residents from the Walpole Island First Nation and Wallaceburg are holding a press conference Monday to talk about whey claim is a planned closure of […]

Formula changes dismantling hospitals: OHC report

(April 17, 2016) By: Valerie MacDonald, Northumberland Today COBOURG – A recent report from the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) says community hospitals, like Northumberland Hills Hospital in Cobourg, are being dismantled due to funding formula changes that “force specialization and centralization of care into fewer locations with patients forced to travel further for services.” In the April […]

Health care in crisis – Mehr

(April 17, 2016) By: Jennifer Hamilton-McCharles, The Nugget If the public doesn’t start voicing their opinion then they better brace for more health care cuts. That is the warning from the North Bay and Ontario Health Coalitions. Natalie Mehr, president of the Ontario Health Coalition, said cuts will continue to happen if something isn’t done. […]

HEALTH CARE IN CRISIS – MEHR

(April 17, 2016) By: Jennifer Hamilton-Mccharles, The Nugget If the public doesn’t start voicing their opinion then they better brace for more health care… If the public doesn’t start voicing their opinion then they better brace for more health care cuts. That is the warning from the North Bay and Ontario Health Coalitions. Natalie Mehr, […]

Formula changes dismantling hospitals: OHC report

(April 17, 2016) Author: Valerie Macdonald, Northumberland Today COBOURG #8211; She summarized her reaction by doing this: “We diminished one hospital within our community already using the promise that better services could be provided. Rally organizer Judy Sherwin of Cobourg, who compensated for 2 ad banners that say “Care not cuts: Put Patients” indicates people don’t […]

Ontario Health Coalition cites Hamilton examples to illustrate province-wide hospital cuts

(April 13, 2016) By: Mike Pearson, Stoney Creek News St. Joseph’s Healthcare is closing the east end general psychiatric clinic on King Street, which serves 30 per cent of total visits in the region for patients with addiction, depression, anxiety and psychiatric disorders. Existing services will be consolidated at St. Joeseph’s West 5th psychiatric hospital. […]

REPORT: “Beyond Limits”: Ontario’s community hospital cuts worst in Canada

(April 13, 2016) Toronto – The data is irrefutable. Ontario’s cuts to hospital nursing care and hospital beds are the most severe of anywhere in Canada. In a new report Beyond Limits: Ontario’s Deepening Hospital Cuts Crisis released today, the Ontario Health Coalition finds that the cuts to community hospital care are a result of […]

Health coalition-hosted town hall attracts small crowd

(April 12, 2016) By: Tyler Kula, Sarnia Observer Thinly stretched and overworked, several nurses at Bluewater Health are considering looking for employment elsewhere: in the United States, says the nurses’ bargaining unit president. “That’s unfortunate because they are highly qualified, skilled nurses,” said Tracy Steadman. But the accumulating burnout amid more than 60 registered-nurse job […]

Vigilance urged on local health care

(April 8, 2016) By: Trevor Terfloth, Chatham Daily News With hospitals large and small feeling the pinch across the province, local residents are being encouraged to speak up about the need for investment in their health care. That was the message during a town hall meeting hosted by the Chatham-Kent Health Coalition on Friday night […]

RELEASE: Coalition Applauds Wynne Government for Reversing Course on Seniors’ Drug Fee Increase

(April 8, 2016) Toronto — This week, Ontario’s government announced that it is canceling its plans to dramatically increase user fees for seniors’ drugs after more than 80 organizations signed onto a letter to the Premier asking her to revisit the idea. The government’s plan, announced in the 2016 Ontario Budget in February, would have […]

Newly-formed health coalition defends Wallaceburg hospital

(April 7, 2016) Author: David Gough, Postmedia Network A number of people passionately defended Wallaceburg’s Sydenham District Hospital during the inaugural meeting of the Wallaceburg Health Coalition held at the UAW Hall on Thursday night. Shirley Roebuck, who is the chair of the Chatham-Kent Health Coalition, and who helped to organize the newly-formed Wallaceburg Health […]

Medicare: the ‘plan’ needs monitoring

(April 7, 2016 ) Author: 0 Comments, Orangevill Citizen AMONG THE MANY CHALLENGES faced by the new federal government, few will be as tough as those involved in protecting and improving our health-care system in the face of an aging population and a weak economy. From time to time we hear horror stories about […]

Town Hall to Tackle Hospital Cuts

(April 6, 2016) Author: Tara Jeffrey, The Sarnia Journal Shirley Roebuck says she wants Sarnia-Lambton residents to know what’s really going on at Bluewater Health. “The hospital is overcrowded and overburdened,” said the woman at the helm of the Sarnia-Lambton Health Coalition, which is set to host a town hall meeting on April 12 at […]

OHC town halls planned for Wallaceburg, Chatham, Sarnia

(April 6, 2016 ) Auhtor: Tyler Kula, Sarnia Observer More than 100,000 hours per year of registered nursing have been lost at Bluewater Health in the last 15 months. That’s according to Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA) VP Vicki McKenna. “Of course the nurses there are doing the best they can, but each and every year […]

Trudeau government needs to start enforcing Canada Health Act

(April 4, 2016) Author: Ryan Meili, Evidence Network.ca SASKATOON, Sask. — Extra-billing in Ontario, private MRIs in Saskatchewan and user fees in Quebec: violations of the Canada Health Act are on the rise across the country. Canadian doctors are concerned about this trend’s impact on patients and on our public health-care system. Health Canada publishes […]

Health Coalition Holds Meeting To Protest Hospital Cuts

(April 1, 2016) Author: Kirk Dickinson, BlackburnNews.com The Ontario Health Coalition is appealing to the public to help protest staffing cuts at provincial hospitals, including Windsor Regional. The health coalition held a town hall meting in Windsor on Thursday, and plans to hold a “referendum” using voting stations in May, to give everyone in Ontario […]

EVENT: Upcoming Town Hall Meetings: Attend one near you!

(April 1, 2016) TOWN HALL MEETINGS: Lindsay, Hamilton, Windsor, Chatham, Wallaceburg, Sarnia, Pelham, North Bay, Port Colborne, Toronto, Orillia, Sault Ste. Marie, St. Joseph Island Hospitals across the province are facing serious cuts to services. London’s hospitals are planning $26 million in cuts this year and more cuts are expected to be announced. Lindsay’s Ross […]

Ontario Health Coalition Head Says Province Deliberately Underfunding Hospitals

(March 31, 2016) By: AM 980 The Ontario Health Coalition is not surprised by another round of hospital cuts in London, saying the province is to blame for a lack of funding. St. Joseph’s Health Care announced Wednesday that the Board of Directors had approved a budget plan for 2016-17 that includes eliminating 60 positions, […]

Time for feds to enforce Canada Health Act as extra billing, user fees on rise

(March 30, 2016) By: Ryan Meili, The Hill Times Charging patients at the point of care for medically necessary services strikes at the heart of the principle that access to health care should be based on need rather than ability to pay. It undermines equity, increases system costs and reduces public commitment to universal coverage. […]