August 12th, 2022

Ford hints at private surgery clinics — NDP says that’ll cost us all

QUEEN’S PARK — On Friday, Premier Doug Ford was asked if he’d open private for-profit surgical clinics. Ford refused to rule it out, saying “everything is on the table.” NDP Health critic France Gélinas issued the following statement:

“Private for-profit clinics will cost us all dearly. They’ll bleed staff away from our public hospitals and urgent care centres, making the health care crisis much worse. If private surgery clinics accept your OHIP card for your procedure, they bill you for your room, the painkillers you take, your meals, the physical therapy you need and more. People walk away from these facilities with bills for thousands of dollars.

It’s deeply worrying that Mr. Ford mentioned Shouldice as a model to look to. That’s Ontario’s only fully private hospital. While Shouldice was grandfathered in, its private model was banned because of the cost to people, and to the system.

My message to Mr. Ford: stop undermining universal health care, and start investing in it, including paying and respecting health care workers.”