Ontarians Want Provincial Government to Prioritize Spending on Public Hospitals Not Private Clinics: New Poll
Article content
TORONTO — Nearly three in four Ontarians believe the government should prioritize spending on public hospitals rather than private clinics, in a poll conducted following the recent budget announcement of $280 million being shunted to private, for-profit clinics. Eighty-four per cent of Ontarians also said they believe public hospitals are understaffed.
Article content
Article content
The Nanos poll was conducted between May 27 and June 1, surveying 1,017 Ontarians over the age of 18. The poll was commissioned by CUPE's Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE), which released a supplementary report on the ongoing privatization of hospital services.
Article content
'This poll shows there is overwhelming opposition to this government's plans to privatize hospital surgeries,' said Michael Hurley, president of OCHU-CUPE, which represents 50,000 hospital and long-term care staff. 'The public understands that spending on private, for-profit clinics and agencies is much more expensive, comes with poorer outcomes and duplicates infrastructure and administration. The vast majority wants our resources allocated to public health care.'
Article content
While the government expands funding to for-profit clinics, over four in five Ontarians (84%) believe there is not enough staff in public hospitals – including 82 per cent of Ontario PC supporters.
Article content
In the recent budget health care funding increased two per cent, well below the annual health care inflation of 5.2 per cent, noted the union.
Article content
After significant privatization of cataract surgeries, the government plans to expand private, for-profit delivery of other procedures including knee and hip replacements as well as diagnostics. In 2023, Premier Doug Ford suggested that up to 50 per cent of surgeries could be performed outside of hospitals.
Article content
'This is startling given that for-profit surgeries in Ontario are twice as expensive as those performed in public hospitals,' said Hurley.
Article content
The OCHU-CUPE report highlights the findings of a 2024 Canadian Medical Association Journal study showing that privatization of cataract operations resulted in surgical rates increasing by 22 per cent for the wealthiest Ontarians while declining for everyone else. Access to surgeries for the poorest people in Ontario declined nine per cent. The study noted that hospitals provided equal access to care.
Article content
At the media conference, the union showed a visual representation of this inequality through a map of Ontario's neighbourhoods, colour-coded by socioeconomic status. The yellow areas representing the wealthiest neighbourhoods showed the most affluent Ontarians are clustered in enclaves that are barely visible amidst a sea of blue (representing the bottom 80 per cent of residents).
Article content
'People can't afford to pay thousands of dollars for health care,' Hurley said. 'The great majority of Ontarians reject this expensive privatization that bakes in inequalities and greatly reduces access.'
Article content
The Ontario Health Coalition has documented hundreds of cases of private, for-profit clinics billing patients for medically necessary services – which is illegal – and add-on services that patients felt compelled to purchase.
Article content
Sixty-seven per cent of respondents to the Nanos poll said it was unacceptable for private clinics to charge people for medically necessary services.
Article content
The union expressed concerns about the acceleration of privatization, citing the CMAJ study's findings showing that since expansion of public funding for cataract surgeries in Ontario, 22.5 per cent of these procedures were performed in private clinics.
Article content
Article content
Article content
Article content
Article content
Article content
Article content
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
‘I'll remember it for the rest of my life': Bridge patrol officer's life-saving actions earn her multiple awards
For Payton Deeble, more than one life was changed after a medical emergency on Halifax's Angus L. Macdonald bridge. 'It really kind opened my eyes to how just a small action can make such a big impact in somebody's life,' said Deeble. On Feb. 8, the 27-year-old bridge patrol officer with Halifax Harbour Bridges (HHB) was in the middle of her Saturday night shift when she responded to a stalled Dartmouth-bound vehicle on the Macdonald. 'When I approached the car, I noticed that the driver was kind of slumped back with his eyes open,' she recalled. 'He didn't give a response. I tapped on the window, and nothing. Knocked, nothing.' Deeble alerted HHB's operations centre that there was a driver unconscious in his vehicle and to call EHS. 'I started to get a lot more aggressive on the car, just banging on the window. And then luckily enough, a driver that was going through the other lane stopped and asked if I needed any help, and I said, yes. So, he got out with me, and we smashed out the back window in his vehicle.' Payton Deeble Payton Deeble is pictured with an Automated External Defibrillator. (Courtesy: Halifax Harbour Bridges) From there, Deeble and the Good Samaritan unlocked the doors and placed the unconscious man, a senior, on the bridge deck. Deeble grabbed the Automated External Defibrillator (AED) from her patrol car, while a passenger with the helping stranger performed chest compressions. 'He had no pulse,' adds Deeble. 'We got his shirt off, placed the AED on him, and started going through the motions. We did the first shock on him, and we still didn't get a pulse. And second shock, we still didn't get a pulse. And by the third shock, we did get a very weak pulse on him. And by that time, luckily enough, EHS was arriving.' From there, paramedics took the senior to hospital where he was treated for a blocked artery. 'I knew I couldn't even have a second thought about how intense the situation was or about if I was scared or nervous or anything. I just knew I needed to act, and I needed to act right away because seconds were vital. I knew I needed to do something right away, and I needed to help this man.' Fortunately, the senior made a full recovery and celebrated his birthday a few days later. He and his wife later met with Deeble privately to thank her for her actions. 'It was surreal,' adds Deeble. 'It was such a heart filling moment, from seeing him in such a state on the bridge deck to seeing him doing better. It was amazing.' It's also rare. Deeble has been with the HHB for four years. 'I know there's been a few people there who have been there for a very long time. We've seen some really, really intense situations. But from most of the people I spoke with, this was a very, very one-off situation that a lot of people haven't seen on the bridges before.' Steven Proctor, the communications manager for HHB, says it's a 'very uncommon' situation. 'Bridge patrol responds to a bunch of different things that are often unexpected,' explains Proctor. 'Their routine is broken down vehicles, distracted driving, speeding, that kind of thing. They also respond to incidents on the sidewalk, but it's very rare to come across something like what Peyton experienced.' Payton Deeble Payton Deeble is pictured with a Canadian Security Lifesaver award. (Courtesy: Halifax Harbour Bridges) Months later, Deeble has received two security awards for her actions. The GardaWorld Award of Excellence, and a national award from the Canadian Security Lifesaver Association. 'It was such a nice feeling just to have that recognition. I never expected anything like that, you know? I just was doing my job.' Her coworkers say the accolades are well deserved. 'What a life experience to keep it together in a life-or-death situation,' says Proctor. 'To face it head on, having all your training kick in, and have a positive result? I think it's fantastic. She's learned she can stand up to just about any critical situation. Bridge patrol is more than an enforcement tool, they're actually out there helping people.' While she doesn't know who stopped to help her that night, she says she appreciates them. 'If it wasn't for that teamwork, I think it would have been a lot more challenging for me,' adds Deeble. 'I'll remember it for the rest of my life. One hundred per cent.' For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
Organization aiming to end Winnipeg homelessness releases strategic plan
A charitable organization looking to end chronic homelessness in Winnipeg released a five-year strategic plan on Thursday to tackle the issue. End Homelessness Winnipeg (EHW), founded in 2015, brings together the homelessness-serving sector to provide leadership, support and coordination to end homelessness in the city. 'The critical underlying theme that we are focusing on over the next five years, and forever, is we want to be rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing,' said Jackie Hunt, senior director of strategy and impact for EHW. Hunt said the organization has been Indigenous-led since 2018, adding that there is an over-representation of the Indigenous population in the city's homeless demographic. The underlying theme of the strategic plan is followed with four strategic priorities, including role clarity and relevance, such as developing an advocacy roadmap and evaluating the organization's governance model. 'We try and bring community partners together to try and solve some of these issues as efficiently as we can,' said Hunt, adding that the group does a range of tasks ranging from advocacy work to research to offering support. Other strategic priorities include creating a 'culture of well-being' across the sector by focusing on resource sharing and training, as well as building trust and creating transparency through communications. 'We want to make sure that we're building trust with our community partners, our government, and our funders, to make sure that we're able to work really collaboratively,' she said. Another identified priority is adaptability and reciprocity, with goals including developing engagement strategies and exploring sustainable funding mechanisms. All four strategic priorities include a list of 'key actions' for the next five years. 'We all probably know somebody who has experienced or is experiencing homelessness,' said Hunt. 'It's everybody's job to take care of everybody, and we all have to work together on this.' For more details, EHW's five-year strategic plan can be viewed here.
CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
How an Indigenous health centre in Montreal is making care more welcoming
As Shirley Pien-Bérubé walks through the halls of the Indigenous Health Centre of Tio'tia:ke, she pauses to point out all the ways the Montreal-based clinic has grown since it opened in 2023. "Our services have expanded so much," she said. "We have a diabetic foot-care clinic, we have an optometry clinic, physiotherapy, mental health, clinical psychologist, addictions worker, a spiritual healer." Just inside the main entrance, a table is set up with sage and sweetgrass. Patients are invited to smudge or make their own medicine bundles. Care here is offered in several Indigenous languages, including Inuktitut and Cree. Pien-Bérubé works as a health navigator, accompanying patients and advocating for them within the health-care system. She says that's just one of the services offered here. The clinic aims to close gaps in health outcomes for Indigenous patients, which was one of the 94 calls to action of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Clinic staff also work to overcome deep-rooted mistrust in the health-care system. Data from a recent Statistics Canada survey found about one in five Indigenous people reported experiencing unfair treatment, racism or discrimination from a health-care professional over the previous year. Pien-Bérubé says patients at her clinic can feel safe and understood. "They are finally being heard — after how many centuries? We are finally being heard," she said. Indigenous clinic aims to close gaps outlined by TRC 7 hours ago Duration 2:14 10 years after TRC's calls to action It's been 10 years since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which looked to document the impact of residential schools, released its final report. In it, the commissioners pointed to "troubling gaps in health outcomes between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians." Those include disparities in the rates of infant mortality, diabetes and suicide. Seven of the TRC's 94 calls to action focused on health, including a call to identify and close gaps in health outcomes, funding for existing and new Indigenous healing centres and recognizing the value of Indigenous healing practices. Fay Virginia Desjarlais, the family violence prevention co-ordinator at the Indigenous Health Centre of Tio'tia:ke, says the clinic is a sign there has been some progress. "There were gaps in the health system to really understand the needs of the Indigenous people living in Montreal," she said. "People didn't feel safe. A lot of advocates, elders and different organizations came together to say 'We need to do something.' " Desjarlais says hospitals and other health-care settings can be unwelcoming for many Indigenous people. She has seen patients face discrimination and racism, and has been through it herself with a family doctor. "I'm diabetic and I was explaining that I'm not feeling well," she said, adding that when she described her symptoms, the doctor replied that when people feel that way, "that's because you're drinking." She says the doctor then dropped her as a patient because she had missed a single appointment. "I couldn't believe it," Desjarlais said. Improving access to health care According to the website Indigenous Watchdog, which tracks progress on the calls to action, while four of the seven calls related to health are in progress, three have stalled, and none are complete. The site's publisher, Douglas Sinclair, says the call to identify and close gaps around health outcomes has stalled in part due to a lack of access to government data. "There's just no political will across the country to sort of co-ordinate activities to identify that information and make it available," Sinclair said. "You can't develop policy if you're working in a vacuum." The federal government tracks its response to the recommendations on its website. It includes a health inequalities data tool available for users to visualise and "understand the size of inequities in social determinants of health and health outcomes." Sinclair says that where there has been progress, it hasn't been enough. He says access to health care remains a major issue for a lot of communities. Building treatment centres in the North In Iqaluit, Nunavut, an addictions and trauma treatment centre called Aqqusariaq is currently under construction that will allow people to receive culturally-based treatment in the territory, in Inuktitut, rather than having to travel south. "Travelling all the way down south to have to take part in treatment and care, you are being removed from your language and culture," said Kylie Aglukark, program director with addictions and trauma at Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated, a treaty organization that represents Inuit in Nunavut. "I'm hopeful that once this is up and running that we have an opportunity to build centres in each of Nunavut's regions," she said. Beyond that, Aglukark wants to build up the Inuit workforce for the centre and other services and to establish more treatment centres in more communities. "It's very important for Inuit to lead and have that opportunity to provide the services in Inuktitut," she said. Dr. Terri Aldred, academic lead with the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health, says progress on the calls to action around health has been "moderate." While she's impressed with new Indigenous health clinics and healing centres like the ones in Montreal and Iqaluit that are "rooted in our ways of knowing and being," Aldred says such projects need to be scaled up to meet the need. She says they also need sustainable, long-term funding. "Indigenous people that are able to access those services will start to have a different relationship with accessing health care," she said. "And we'll be able to build trust with those providers, and we'll have a positive ripple effect.
