VIDEO: Doug Ford: Our Hospitals Are Not For Sale

Posted: April 27, 2022

(April 27, 2022)

Don’t let the Doug Ford government do to our hospitals what they did to long-term care, where for-profit companies took tens of millions of dollars while residents have been left to die of dehydration, starvation, and neglect.

Tell Doug Ford – and all Ontario political parties – Our Public Hospitals are NOT For Sale

The Ford government has been backpedalling ever since we exposed Health Minister Christine Elliott’s announcement that they will “let independent health facilities [private clinics] operate private hospitals”, on February 4. In fact, Ford advocates are in full scale attack mode against us. However, the fact is that the Ford government has announced it is expanding for-profit privatization of our (currently) public hospitals’ diagnostics and surgeries in 4 different places (as listed below).

This matters. Rather than pretending they are not doing what they are doing, we need clear concrete plans to fund public hospitals to restore services, clear backlogs and provide for our communities and NOT private for-profit clinics to take on public hospitals’ services. We need Ford to renounce his privatization plans clearly. Let’s keep up the pressure and make sure this is a key election issue.

In case you need the sources, here are four places in which the Ford government has stated on video or in writing its intentions to privatize hospital surgeries and diagnostics:

1) A video of the Health Minister announcing the increased use of Independent Health Facilities (98% of which are private for-profit clinics) and private hospitals. This is her quote at the 38 second mark: “We’re opening up pediatric surgeries, cancer screenings, making sure that we can let independent health facilities operate private hospitals” – https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1998422595853
2) CBC article in which they received the Ford government’s pandemic plan prior to its release. The written plan states that the Ford government will use Independent Health Facilities (private for-profit clinics) to provide surgical and diagnostic services – https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-19-ontario-fall-pandemic-plan-draft-copy-1.5736538
3) The Ford government’s pandemic plan released publicly after the CBC exposé. This written plan states that the Ford government will expand the use of “Alternative Health Facilities” (wording was changed from Independent Health Facilities) to provide surgical and diagnostic services – https://www.ontario.ca/page/keeping-ontarians-safe-preparing-future-waves-covid-19
4) The Ford government announced $24 million in new public funding to Independent Health Facilities (private for-profit clinics) to increase their volume of surgical and diagnostic services, and for licensing even more such facilities here- https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1000613/ontario-ramping-up-efforts-to-reduce-surgical-wait-times