Blog

BLOG: The Power of a People’s Referendum

posted June 1, 2023

(June 1, 2023) By Natalie Mehra, Executive Director We know that the overwhelming majority of Ontarians do not want our public hospitals privatized to for-profit hospitals and clinics. We know this because we hear it in our families, in our communities. The polls reveal that the opposition to the privatization of our hospital services is […]

OP-ED: Doug Ford’s government is quietly privatizing health care

posted March 16, 2022

(March 15, 2022) By: Nancy Olivieri, Michael Hurley, Natalie Mehra Words matter. Recently, Health Minister Christine Elliott announced the expansion of private hospitals in Ontario. Missed this? So did many of us, possibly because of the words she selected: “we can let independent health facilities operate private hospitals.” That offhand reference to “independent health facilities” […]

OP-ED: Doug Ford’s new long-term-care legislation, Bill 37, tolls for all of us

posted January 4, 2022

(January 4, 2022) By: Nancy Olivieri, Michael Hurley, Vivian Stamatopoulos and Natalie Mehra Hope to live out your old age in dignity and comfort? Think again, after Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s “new” long-term-care legislation, Bill 37, was rushed through with furtive speed, just before the holidays. Ushering in a series of deadly amendments to the […]

BLOG: If we do not protest that nothing has changed in long-term care, who are we as a society?

posted October 1, 2021

(October 1, 2021) It has been more than a year since the military report exposed, to the horror of Canadians, the state of Ontario’s long-term care (LTC). The report lent credence to decades of work by the Ontario Health Coalition exposing insufficient care, safety issues and lack of accountability. Despite massive media coverage through the pandemic, and despite promises […]

BLOG: A personal note as I’m leaving to protest one of the worst LTC companies today

posted July 14, 2021

(July 14, 2021) After what we have seen in the last sixteen months, on a very personal level, I can’t let this happen without doing everything in my power to stop it. If you don’t mind, I thought I’d share a few thoughts with you. Quietly the Doug Ford government is proposing to give new 30-year […]

OP-ED: Not ending private long-term care would be a deadly mistake

posted February 11, 2021

(February 11, 2021) On February 1, The Toronto Star published an opinion column titled “Ending private long-term care would be an expensive mistake.” Both on the facts and the ethics we disagree. “Resident mortality has been more common in privately owned homes,” begins the op-ed by Dr. Bob Bell. This detached language obscures the painful […]

BLOG: On Canada Day let us celebrate & let us recommit to those fundamental values that so many of us share

posted July 1, 2020

(July 1, 2020) It is Canada Day and after such a challenging winter and spring, it is time to celebrate. One of our greatest achievements as a society is public health care for all. For all of the pain and grief that COVID-19 has caused, it has also reminded us all of our interdependence. Our […]

RELEASE: Leaked omnibus health bill goes far beyond merging the LHINs

posted February 1, 2019

(February 1, 2019) Preliminary analysis reveals new unprecedented powers to order privatization and contracting out, mega-mergers and the elimination of public interest provisions in LHIN legislation   By: Natalie Mehra, executive director Many of you will have heard about the new health care legislation drafted in secret by the Ford government and revealed to the […]

Saving Public Health Care & Public Services Under the Doug Ford Government, September 11, 2017 By Natalie Mehra, Executive Director, Ontario Health Coalition

posted September 11, 2018

Saving Public Health Care & Public Services Under the Doug Ford Government      September 11, 2018 By Natalie Mehra, Executive Director, Ontario Health Coalition Since Doug Ford’s election there has been a lot of glib talk about Ford as a buffoon, a Trump-north, an almost contemptible figure. But this ignores the fact that the […]

RELEASE: $22 billion in cuts to funding for public services planned by Mr. Ford, worse than Harris, we are “extremely worried”

posted June 3, 2018

By Natalie Mehra, Executive Director Many Ontarians are captured by the idea of getting the same or more services for less money. But few know what the numbers might actually mean. Since Doug Ford did not release a clear platform, Ontarians know more about how much a beer may cost if the Conservative leader is […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Ontario government announces parking fee cut: Here’s the low-down on high-cost hospital parking & hospital funding in Ontario

posted January 20, 2016

(January 20, 2016) By: Natalie Mehra, executive director, OHC We have raised it repeatedly for the last half-decade or more in legislative hearings on the Ontario Budget and the Local Health Integration Networks. Now, finally, the Ontario government is taking some modest action to roll back the worst of hospital parking fees. In advance of the […]

Making a Killing: the Drug Industry & the Cost of the Newest Trade Deal

posted October 29, 2015

(October 29, 2015) By Natalie Mehra, Executive Director, OHC One in twelve Ontarians aged 55 and up skipped filling a prescription for medicine because of cost last year, reported Ontario’s Health Quality Council earlier this month. This shocking figure reflects the high cost of drugs; highest here in Canada of any developed nation except the […]

Taking Stock: With a New Health Minister it is Timely to Assess Where Ontario’s Health System is at and Where We are Going

posted July 18, 2014

(July 18, 2014) With the appointment of a new Health Minister, it is timely to take stock of where Ontario’s health system has come from and where we are going. There have been significant improvements in Ontario’s health care system. The number of MRIs has vastly increased. Wait time management has improved and there has […]