News + Events

Advocates for elderly patients vow Charter challenge to Ontario LTC law

(November 20, 2022) By: Cassandra Szklarski, The Associated Press Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition holds a news conference at Queen’s Park inToronto on Monday, January 21, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young Health-care advocates say they are preparing a possible constitutional challenge to an Ontario law that allows some discharged elderly hospital […]

RELEASE & LEGAL OPINION: Ontario Health Coalition & Advocacy Centre for the Elderly will go to court to challenge Ford government’s new law forcing elderly into long-term care homes against their choice: “an egregious violation of their Charter rights”

(November 21, 2022) Toronto –The Ontario Health Coalition and the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly launched a Constitutional Challenge this morning in response to the Ford government’s new law that forces elderly hospital patients into long-term care homes against their choice. The two groups will be co-applicants to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in […]

Peel is warming twice as fast as the global average; how will a strained health system handle a population made increasingly sick by climate change?

(November 19, 2022) By: Rachel Morgan, The Pointer Emergency rooms, ICUs and inpatient beds in hospitals across Ontario are overflowing. Throughout late summer and the fall, disturbing stories of shuttered ERs, paramedics driving hours to assist overburdened departments in other jurisdictions and patients being transferred hundreds of kilometres for surgery, have been heard across the […]

Ontario group to challenge $400/day penalty for seniors who stay in hospital instead of moving to LTC

(November 18, 2022) By: Hannah Alberga, CTV News Toronto Public health advocates are launching a charter challenge against a new Ontario law that requires hospitals to charge elderly patients $400 per day if they refuse to move to a long-term care home against their will. Bill 7, the More Beds Better Care Act, forces seniors who are waiting for […]

‘Unprecedented’ hospital crisis prompts series of town hall meetings

(November 16, 2022) By: Calvi Leon, Northern News (Getty Images) A health coalition is holding a series of emergency meetings across Southwestern Ontario to urge the provincial government to tackle the hospital crisis. The Ontario Health Coalition, a network representing more than 400 organizations, will host online town hall meetings across Ontario, including Seaforth, St. […]

Ontario health minister’s talking points edited to remove denial of privatized health care

(November 16, 2022) By: Isaac Callan and Colin D’Mello, Global News As the Ford government faced intense questions during the summer about the private delivery of health-care services, a set of talking points given to Ontario’s Minister of Health included a forceful denial of privatization — words which were never uttered by Sylvia Jones because they […]

More vacant positions than working nurses at GTA hospital, internal report shows

(November 7, 2022) By: Jon Woodward, CTV News There are more vacant positions for nurses than nurses working at one GTA emergency room, according to an internal report obtained by CTV News Investigates — a sign of how dire staff shortages are “deteriorating” a medical system already on edge. A consultants report for Lakeridge Health […]

Regional group among advocates critical of privatization plans

(November 3, 2022) By: Bill Atwood, Observer Health care advocates that laid into the Ford government ahead of last June’s provincial election haven’t let up. Critics include the Waterloo Region Health Coalition, which is part of the chorus warning about privatization of the likes of hospital services. As with the Ontario Health Coalition, the local […]

Rally against hospital privatization held at MPP’s office

(November 3, 2022) By: Natalia Vega, Blackburn News The Sarnia-Lambton Ontario Health Coalition is emphasizing growing concerns regarding the privatization of Ontario’s hospitals. A rally was held outside of MPP Bob Bailey’s office Thursday afternoon in Point Edward. Co-chairs Shirley Roebuck and June Weiss led the local rally, about one week after the Ontario Health Coalition […]

Demonstration targets MPP, funding for private health clinics

(November 3, 2022) By: Tyler Kula, The Observer Shirley Roebuck with the Sarnia-Lambton Health Coalition organized a demonstration Thursday outside Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey’s office in Point Edward. (Tyler Kula/ The Observer) Sarnia-Lambton’s MPP was under fire Thursday from the local health coalition chapter. “We are here today to make sure that the people of […]

Kawartha Lakes long-term care advocate’s efforts recognized with Ontario Health Coalition award

(October 29, 2022) By: Catherine Whitnall, The Peterborough Examiner Bonnie Roe has once again been recognized for her outstanding commitment to safeguarding public health care and advocacy for long-term care residents and their families in Kawartha Lakes. “This year we have faced enormous challenges in public health care. Each of our award winners have given […]

Amid fears health system is buckling, Toronto hospitals to issue alerts about overcrowded ERs

(October 29, 2022) By: Tyler Cheese, CBC News University Hospital Network staff were informed Thursday that Toronto General Hospital’s emergency department was at capacity. (Carlos Osorio/CBC) Amid signs of a growing crisis in the province’s health-care system, an alert went out Thursday that the emergency department at Toronto General Hospital was at capacity — and that […]

‘No mandate’ for province’s greater use of private clinics: Health Coalition

(October 28, 2022) By: Tom Morrison, St.Thomas Times-Journal Shirley Roebuck, with the Ontario Health Coalition, is shown in this 2020 file photo. (File photo/Postmedia Network) Members of a local health care advocacy group are calling out the provincial government for actions which they say contradict past statements. Although members of the Progressive Conservative government made […]

Sault Area Hospital reports hike in alternate level of care patient numbers

(October 27, 2022) By: Jeffrey Ougler, The Sault Star SAH receives an average of 57 alternate level of care patients a day, and generally has up to 15 patients waiting for long-term care placement, accounting for approximately 25 per cent of its ALC patient population. Getty Sault Area Hospital has posted an increase in alternate […]

Ontario Health Coalition challenges Ford’s privatization of Ontario’s hospitals

(October 26, 2022) By: Samantha Lawson, CHCH Video: The Ontario Health Coalition joins Democracy Watch at 10 a.m. to challenge specific claims the Ford government made about their plans regarding hospital privatization. The Health Coalition will announce its plans for a major campaign to stop the privatization. Click here for link to full video

NDP rail against 30-year license extension for Pickering’s Orchard Villa LTC, which lost 85 residents during pandemic

(October 26, 2022) By: Liam McConnell, insauga Frank Gunn, Canadian Press The long saga of Orchard Villa, a long-term care (LTC) home responsible for the death of 85 of its 230 residents during the COVID-19 pandemic, continues with increased opposition to the facility’s request for a 30-year license extension. Opposition NDP leader Peter Tabuns, LTC […]

Ontario health care organization calls out Doug Ford for lying to voters

(October 26, 2022) By: Jack Landau, blogTO An organization that aims to protect and improve the province’s public health care system is furious with Premier Doug Ford, accusing his PC government of lying to the public about its planned privatization of Ontario’s public hospital services. The Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) issued a scathing brief on Wednesday, attacking the Ford government […]

RELEASE & BRIEFING NOTE: The Ford government lied to the public re. their privatization of public hospital services: Health Coalition demands Ford stop their privatization of our hospitals, kicks off major campaign to save our local public hospitals

(October 26, 2022) Toronto –The Ontario Health Coalition released a brief today charging that the Ford government lied to the public about its privatization of Ontario’s public hospital services. The Coalition reported that the Ford government significantly increased funding to private clinics while at the same time denying that they were expanding the private clinics. […]

REPORT & RELEASE: Ontario Hospital Crisis Province-Wide and By Community

(October 24, 2022) Toronto — Across Ontario, the hospital crisis continues to burn through the resilience of the province’s truly heroic health care staff. As the burden of infectious disease has increased, with the removal of virtually all public health measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19; the flu, other respiratory illnesses, and a severe […]

Public in dark about COVID-19 spread: Ontario Health Coalition

(October 21, 2022) By: Antonella Artuso, Toronto Sun A wayward disposable face mask hangs on a street sign pole. PHOTO BY KEVIN KING /Postmedia COVID-19 is moving through communities and nursing homes but the lack of official public reporting means people have been left largely in the dark about the latest surge in cases, a new report from the […]

Sleepwalking through a crisis? Alarms raised over COVID impact on young and old

(October 21, 2022) By: Kim Zarzour, YorkRegion.com Health-care professionals warn we are sleepwalking into a disastrous winter, based on what they’ve seen among the very young and very old. While much of the province seems ready to put the pandemic in the past, those with an eye on the front line are using words like […]

Amy Ayers quit her career working in long-term care—for a job at Tim Hortons

(October 21, 2022) By: Elizabeth Payne, Ottawa Citizen Amy Ayers left her PSW job to go to work at Tim Hortons due to the stress levels of the PSW work environment. PHOTO BY JEAN LEVAC /Postmedia When Amy Ayers worked her first night shift at Tim Hortons last month, she experienced a sense of relief. The former […]

Ontario Just Recorded Its Highest COVID-19 Death Count In Months & Here’s What It Means

(October 21, 2022) By: Stuart McGinn, Narcity Toronto A masked individual in Toronto. Shawn Goldberg | Dreamstime Ontario has just reported quite a notable spike in COVID-19-related deaths and the number is the highest we’ve seen in a while. Weekly data from Public Health Ontario released on Thursday, October 20, revealed the highest death toll since […]

RELEASE: Ontario Health Coalition Announces Our Highest Awards for 2022: This year’s recipients have shown extraordinary commitment to safeguarding public health care and advocacy for long-term care residents and their families

(October 21, 2022) Toronto – They contributed in unique ways, but each demonstrated extraordinary commitment to the public interest, the Ontario Health Coalition reported as it announced the winners of its highest awards. The awards celebrate the contributions of Ontarians who have made a remarkable contribution in public health care. “This year we have faced […]

RELEASE: New report on the spread of COVID, LTC outbreaks, hospitalizations & deaths raises red flags despite the Ford government’s suppression of COVID Data

(October 21, 2022) Toronto – The Ford government has ceased regular reporting on the spread of COVID-19. Public Health no longer publishes daily and weekly epidemiologic reports and it has become steadily more difficult to get accurate numbers. Not only are the government and Public Health not reporting much of the data previously available, they […]

UPDATE: Submission to Ministry of Long-Term Care Public Consultation on New License & Expansion for Southbridge Care Homes Orchard Villa

(October 21, 2022) Submission to Ministry of Long-Term Care Public Consultation on New License & Expansion for Southbridge Care Homes Orchard Villa To: The Director under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021 Ministry of Long-Term Care Capital Planning Branch 438 University Avenue, 8th Floor Toronto, Ontario M5G 2K8 Via email: LTCHomes.Licensing@ontario.ca From: Ontario Health Coalition Re: PROJECT #23-034 Orchard Villa […]

‘Health care system in crisis’: Emergency room wait times reach all-time high

(October 19, 2022) By: Jenn Basa, CTV News Emergency departments across Ontario are struggling to keep up with the high volume of patients and staffing shortages. This week, the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) reached an all-time high of 20 hours for patients waiting in the emergency department. “As cold and flu season approaches, our […]

Parents of sick baby speak out against Windsor, Ont., hospital’s policy limiting NICU visitors

(October 17, 2022) By: CBC News Olivia Gagnon was born on Sept. 11 at London Health Sciences Centre in southwestern Ontario. A few weeks later, she was diagnosed with trisomy 18, a rare genetic condition that causes several health issues. (Clarissa Macgregor-Mitchell) Sheena Wallace-Wilson and Bruce Gagnon of Windsor, Ont., want their sick month-old daughter to be […]

‘It’s looney’: Wait time trackers not the solution to overcrowded emergency rooms

(October 15, 2022) By: Tina Yazdani and John Marchesan, City News Lakeridge Health in Durham region has launched a wait time tracker for its emergency room, the latest tool to try and address spiking delays patients are facing at Ontario hospitals. While the tracker gives the public an estimate of ” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>how long the wait […]

October 19th is the deadline to suspend the new 30 year LTC contract with Orchard Villas

(October 14, 2022) By: Walter Pallad, Eminetra Orchard Villa is where Diane Colangelo’s 86-year-old mother, Patricia, arrived 48 kilograms (105 lbs) and died at 31 kilograms (68 lbs). Paul William Russell Parkes also died there claiming that her daughter Cathy was severely dehydrated. Andrew Watt’s mother, Nina, died just weeks after arriving at the for-profit […]

Lakeridge Health launches tracker that shows wait times at its 4 Durham Region emergency rooms

(October 14, 2022) By: CBC News Lakeridge Health, an integrated regional health system that serves Durham Region, has launched what it calls an ‘Emergency Department Wait Times Tracker.’ The web-based tool tracks approximate wait times in emergency rooms in four of its hospitals. (Jonathan Castell/CBC) People who live in Durham Region can now check an online […]

Scarborough long-term care home battles COVID-19 outbreak with 46 residents testing positive

(October 6, 2022) By: Muriel Draaisma, Natalie Kalata, CBC News This Scarborough long-term care home is dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak, in which 46 residents have tested positive for the virus. (CBC) Forty-six residents at a Scarborough long term care home are infected with COVID-19 and the facility says families will have to visit their loved ones though windows this […]

Patients, unions unite to fight Ford

(October 6, 2022) By: Carolyn Egan, Socialist.ca The Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) held a dynamic organizing conference over two days at the start of October. It brought together hundreds of activists from across the province, in person and on zoom, representing grassroots groups and unions. A large number of local organizations have developed in the […]

The Health Care Crisis V: Privatization

(September 30, 2022) By: The Big Story Podcast As Canada’s health-care system fails, more and more people will be willing to pay up to avoid the most overcrowded and underserviced parts of it. While no politician will come out in favour of privatizing health care, you do here a lot about “looking for innovative solutions”—which […]

10% of long-term care homes in Windsor-Essex had proactive inspection a year after Ontario vowed to do better

(September 29, 2022) By: Jennifer La Grassa, CBC News In October 2021, the provincial government allocated $20 million to the long-term care sector and announced the launch of a proactive inspection program and the hiring of 193 inspectors by fall 2022. To date, the Ministry of Long-term Care says it has performed proactive inspections […]

‘Lost in the system’: Timmins family waiting months for tumour surgery due to health care shortage

(September 28, 2022) By: Sergio Arangio, CTV Northern Ontario Analysis Brittany Roberge, a mother in Timmins, Ont., is speaking out about the current state of Ontario’s health care system as her 12-year-old daughter, Paige, faces repeated delays in removing a large tumour near her kidney. Roberge told CTV News that local doctors discovered the growth […]

BRIEFING NOTE & QUESTIONS FOR CANDIDATES: Municipal Election Key Health Care Issues

(September 27, 2022) Questions for Candidates Will you commit to maintaining our municipal long-term care homes as public homes, and oppose contracting out the operation of municipal LTC homes to for-profit companies? Will you commit to funding municipal LTC homes to provide safe, quality living and caring environments, and support a minimum care standard of […]

London hospital defends shakeup of brass, won’t reveal cost to taxpayers

(September 23, 2022) By: Jennifer Bieman, London Free Press Victoria Hospital in London. Southwestern Ontario’s largest hospital, which has added new presidents for its two London campuses, is defending an overhaul of its executive ranks, but won’t say what the restructuring is costing taxpayers. London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) has gone from an executive team […]

Hour 1 of Ottawa Now for Wed. September 21st, 2022

(September 21, 2022) By: Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron Just before lunchtime, a child attending Stepping Up Daycare experienced an anaphylactic allergic reaction. The daycare’s director called 911, paramedics arrived, and the child was fine after a shot of Benadryl. However, more children experienced that same reaction. CTV’s Colton Praill describes the scene in Hour […]

Ford’s “More Beds, Better Care Act” is only bringing more anger across Ontario

(September 20, 2022) By: Abbey Bilotta, The Brock Press Photo by Martha Dominguez de Gouveia on Unsplash Last week, Ontario released new regulations which would move elderly hospital patients awaiting long-term care into temporary nursing homes. Such legislation, formerly recognized as Bill-7, was titled “More Beds, Better Care Act” in hopes of clearing out hospital beds to make […]

LETTER: Bill 7 removes Charter right for patient choice

(September 20, 2022) By: Shirley Roebuck, Chatham This Week A joint statement from the CEOs of Chatham-Kent Health Alliance and Windsor Regional Hospital was issued in regard to Premier Doug Ford’s Bill 7, which is now the law. The statement is an attempt to make Bill 7 seem to be a reasonable part of the […]

LTC waiting lists raise questions about where Hamilton hospital patients will be sent

(September 20, 2022) By: Joanna Frketich, Hamilton Spectator A controversial bill requiring hospitals to send seniors to long-term-care homes as far as 70 kilometres away in southern Ontario comes at a time when many Hamilton facilities have long waiting lists. Every Hamilton long-term care home had a wait list as of April 30 — the […]

‘It’s immoral on every level’: Health advocates, MPPs decry PC plan to charge patients $400 a day for refusing hospital transfers

(September 19, 2022) By: Joel Wittnebel, The Pointer A Bill that has been labelled “grotesque”; the “worst and most cruel Bill” the Ontario Legislature has ever seen, was approved by Premier Doug Ford’s PC majority last month, paving the way for hospital patients to be billed $400 a day if they refuse to be transferred […]

RELEASE: Health Coalitions denounce for-profit deal by Canadian Blood Services that endangers Canada’s Blood Supply

(September 20, 2022) OTTAWA (the traditional and unceded territory of the Anishinabe Algonquin people) – Canada’s provincial and territorial Health Coalitions and the Canadian Health Coalition call for the resignation of the leadership of the Canadian Blood Services (CBS) including the CEO and Board of Directors. This call comes after the appalling decision by CBS […]

Outrage Over Elderly Patient Bill Continues

(September 16, 2022) By: Mike Ebbeling, CKDR 92.7 Dryden The opposition continues to attack the provincial government on a controversial bill that allows hospitals to move patients no longer needing alternative level of care to long- term care facilities without consent. Details have emerged that patients in the north could be moved 150 kilometres away […]

Bill 7 fills an urgent need, Thunder Bay hospital CEO says

(September 16, 2022) By: Gary Rinne, NWO Newswatch THUNDER BAY — The CEO of Thunder Bay’s regional hospital is welcoming new provincial legislation that allows hospitals to transfer elderly patients to long-term care homes once they are ready to be discharged. Bill 7, which takes effect Sept. 21, also requires hospitals to charge a daily […]

Ford Government to Move Hospital Patients to Long-Term Care, But Proactive Inspections Still On Hold

(September 16, 2022) By: Mitchell Thompson, Press Progress The Ford government’s More Beds, More Care Act, is set to move designated hospital patients to long-term care homes, and charge those who refuse , as early as September 21. But it will not restart annual, unannounced Resident Quality Inspections before the transfers start — even though Doug Ford […]

Controversial LTC bill causing tug of war: condemned by advocates but applauded by hospitals

(September 15, 2022) By: Elizabeth Payne, Ottawa Citizen FILE: Patient in a hospital Photo by Srisakorn /GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO While The Ottawa Hospital’s President and CEO Cameron Love and other health-care leaders are throwing their support behind Bill 7, opposition to the controversial provincial legislation is growing. Under the legislation, southern Ontario hospital patients awaiting spots […]

‘It is grotesque to do this’: Critics slam Ford government’s plan for long-distance placements in nursing homes

(September 15, 2022) By: Rob Ferguson, Toronto Star Sue’s elderly mom has complex medical issues and depression, and is waiting for a long-term-care bed after being hospitalized in June. But she’s under no illusions she’ll ever get into the nursing home she picked four years ago — despite what the Ontario government has promised under […]

Hour 1 of Ottawa Now for Thurs. September 15th, 2022

(September 15, 2022) By: Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron Hundreds of thousands of people are patiently waiting to pay their final respects to Queen Elizabeth. As she lies in state over the next 4 days, some have waited several days for this moment, with the lineup stretching 8 kilometres long as of Thursday morning. That […]

Waterfront developer to bring privatized healthcare to Sault and elsewhere

(September 14, 2022) By: Christopher Shoust, Sault Online Old hospital these days at 941 Queen Street East. Provided to SaultOnline from Pabtimbo. The waterfront development company Leisure Meadows Community Living Inc., who control the dilapidated, old hospital (941 Queen St. East), the Doctor’s Building (955 Queen St. East), 10 Lucy Terrace, and 309 East Balfour […]

Ontario hospital patients to be charged $400 a day for refusing temporary long-term care placements

(September 14, 2022) By: Durham Radio News According to the provincial government, if you are a hospital patient waiting for a spot in long-term care, you can be charged for refusing a home that is not of your choosing. Anyone who refuses will face a daily fine of $400. In southern Ontario, you can be […]

Some Windsor-Essex hospitals support Ontario’s LTC changes to ease surgery backlog

(September 14, 2022) By: CBC News A hospital bed sits empty at Windsor Regional Hospital’s Ouellette Campus in a stock image in 2019. The hospital’s CEO says he supports Ontario’s plans to move hospital patients awaiting a long-term care home into a home that isn’t necessarily of their choosing. (CBC Windsor ) Following more details […]

Ford government will charge $400 a day for long-term-care patients who won’t leave hospital

(September 14, 2022) By: Rob Ferguson, Toronto Star Young or old, staying in hospital if you’re cleared for discharge to available care elsewhere could cost you $400 a day as the Ontario government tries to free up beds for the expected fall and winter surge of COVID-19 and flu. And seniors can be moved to […]

More Private Players in Health Care? | The Agenda

(September 14, 2022) By: The Agenda with Steve Paikin Analysis Would more private health care help alleviate the problems within Ontario’s health-care system and give Ontarians more, and faster options? Ontario Health Coalition executive director Natalie Mehra joins a panel to highlight the issues with private health care. Link to TV panel

FACT CHECKER & RELEASE: Furious at the “grotesque” ageism and violation of human rights, advocates respond to Ford government’s planned regulations to push elderly patients out of hospital

(September 15, 2022) Toronto – The Ford government has released its regulations under the euphemistically titled More Beds, Better Care Act (formerly Bill 7) today. The regulations are the details under the legislation to provide new powers to push elderly patients and people with chronic care needs out of hospitals, overriding their right to consent. […]

Privatization scheme has few winners

(September 12, 2022) By: Paul Kahnert, Rabble Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones addressing the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) on August 17, 2022. Credit: CPAC Ford is following the usual Tory script to privatize healthcare in Ontario. First, as John Snobelen of the Harris government said, “you have to create a crisis.” The COVID […]

Don’t be scared into supporting privatized health care

(September 12, 2022) By: Gordon Guyatt in the Toronto Star That one should never let a good crisis go to waste has become a political cliché. Canadian, and particularly Ontario health care, is facing a crisis resulting from three main factors. First is the pent-up demand for health care resources and innovations. This follows from […]

Un Ontarien coincé en C.-B. par manque de lits dans un hôpital près de chez lui

(September 11, 2022) By: Radio-Canada Brian Wootton pensait être en bonne santé lorsque lui et sa femme ont commencé un voyage de trois semaines sur la côte ouest au mois de juin. Mais au bout de quelques jours, Brian tombe malade et est admis à l’hôpital Royal Jubilee de Victoria, en Colombie-Britannique. Le diagnostic tombe […]

With no bed in his local hospital, Ontario cancer patient is stuck in B.C.

(September 11, 2022) By: Mike Crawley, CBC Brian Wootton is in hospital in Victoria, B.C., waiting for his local hospital in Owen Sound, Ont. to find a bed so he can be transferred. Officials with the Grey Bruce Health System say the Owen Sound facility has been over capacity for weeks. (Laurie Wootton) An Ontario […]

Flawed Bill 7 is not the right answer

(September 10, 2022) By: Spectator Editorial, Hamilton Spectator Leaders at Hamilton and Burlington health-care systems are making a difficult choice in an effort to strike a near impossible balance. As reported by Spectator health journalist Joanna Frketich, decision-makers at Hamilton Health Sciences, St. Joseph’s Health Care and Burlington’s Joseph Brant Hospital are not yet using […]

Hamilton hospitals avoiding using controversial long-term care bill to free up beds

(September 9, 2022) By: Joanna Frketich, Hamilton Spectator Area hospitals have held off using new powers provided by Ontario’s Conservative government to help move seniors into long-term care without their consent despite being under what one CEO describes as “immense pressure.” Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS), St. Joseph’s Healthcare and Burlington’s Joseph Brant Hospital haven’t yet […]

MPP Gélinas appeals to Human Rights Commissioner as Bill 7 passes vote : My Espanola Now

(September 6, 2022) By: Rosalind Russell, MyEspanolaNow Moving vulnerable seniors into a long-term care facility, not of their choice does not sit well with Nickel Belt MPP, France Gelinas, so she has sent a letter to the Human Rights Commission. She says that Bill 7, which could force the elderly now receiving alternative accommodations in […]

LETTER: Ontario’s Bill 7 ‘smacks of ageism’

(September 6, 2022) By: Marie DellaVedova in the Sault Star Facing a long-foreseen crisis in Ontario’s hospital care, the Ford government has recently announced a plan which it says will free up much-needed beds in hospitals across the province. Bill 7, the ‘More Beds, Better Care Act,’ will allow the forcing of elderly patients into […]

MPP Gélinas appeals to Human Rights Commissioner as Bill 7 passes vote : My Espanola Now

LETTER: Ontario’s Bill 7 ‘smacks of ageism’

France Gélinas appeals to Human Rights for judgment on Bill 7

(September 3, 2022) By: Sudbury.com Nickel Belt MPP and official opposition health care critic France Gélinas believes the rights of some hospital patients are being ignored by government legislation Ontario’s official opposition health critic France Gélinas is stepping up the fight against Ontario’s Bill 7; the More Beds, Better Care Act that was passed by the governing […]

Health Advocates Claim Bill 7 Discriminates against Seniors

(September 2, 2022) By: Randy Thoms, CKDR The passing of Bill 7 has prompted renewed calls for the Ontario Human Rights Commission to investigate the level of care provided to seniors. The controversial piece of legislation gives power to hospitals to move patients who no longer need acute care to a long-term home without consent, […]

Health Advocates Claim Bill 7 Discriminates against Seniors

‘I feel like I am non-existent:’ Ottawa woman is pressured to take a LTC room she didn’t want under threat of Bill 7

(September 1, 2022) By: Elizabeth Payne, Ottawa Citizen An Ottawa woman and her family say she was coerced to accept a room in a long-term care home she doesn’t want to live in under the threat that she could be charged up to $1,800 a day for refusing to move once the province’s Bill 7 […]

‘I feel like I am non-existent:’ Ottawa woman is pressured to take a LTC room she didn’t want under threat of Bill 7

Hospital unions blast Bill 7

(August 31, 2022) By: Greg Estabrooks, Northern News This Week Ontario’s Council of Hospital Unions and other union representatives are demanding a Human Rights Commission inquiry of the Ford government’s plan to relocate some hospitalized seniors. This comes as the Ontario government has passed Bill 7, which would transfer senior hospital patients to long-term care homes not […]

Aînés : l’Ontario adopte le controversé projet de loi 7

(August 31, 2022) By: Radio Canada Le gouvernement de Doug Ford a adopté mercredi son projet de loi sur les soins de longue durée, malgré les récriminations des partis d’opposition et de groupes de défense des aînés. En vertu de la nouvelle législation, des patients âgés jugés aptes à quitter l’hôpital peuvent être transférés temporairement, […]

Ontario government passes controversial long-term care bill without public input

(August 31, 2022) By: CBC News Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government used its majority Wednesday to pass Bill 7, controversial legislation that could force hospital patients awaiting long-term care to nursing homes not of their choosing on a temporary basis. The government has faced criticism over the vague wording of the legislation, and that it opted not to […]

Seniors waiting in hospital beds for nursing home spots target of new law

(August 31, 2022) By: Antonella Artuso, Toronto Sun The Doug Ford government passed legislation Wednesday that will bring more pressure on seniors to vacate acute care beds if hospitals decide their needs can be better met in a nursing home. Under Bill 7, if a doctor determines a patient doesn’t require the “intensity of […]

Ontario passes bill that would transfer hospital patients to alternative long-term care homes

(August 31, 2022) By: Liam Casey, The Canadian Press Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government passed legislation Wednesday that would force hospital patients awaiting long-term care into nursing homes not of their choosing on a temporary basis, but many details of the new law remain unknown. Patients who refuse to move to long-term care are expected to […]

‘This government is morally abhorrent to us’: Local reaction to accelerated LTC legislation

(August 30, 2022) Jenn Basa, CTV News Analysis On Monday, the Progressive Conservative government passed a motion to advance Bill 7 without public hearings. The proposed bill ‘More Beds, Better Care Act’ would allow hospital patients awaiting long-term care to be transferred to a home without their consent. The Ford government has said that the legislation will […]

Opinion | Doug Ford’s familiar refrain on private health care

(August 30, 2022) By: Paul Kahnert in the Hamilton Spectator Doug Ford is following the usual Tory script to privatize health care in Ontario. First, as John Snobelen of the Harris government said, “you have to create a crisis.” The COVID crisis is tailor made. Taking advantage of or creating a crisis is only the […]

Ontario Health Coalition concerned with shift to private clinics

(August 30, 2022) By: Darren Taylor, SooToday The Ontario Health Coalition is expressing its concerns over the provincial government’s plans for Ontario’s health care system. Announced August 18 by Health Minister Sylvia Jones, the plan includes a move to increase publicly covered surgeries at private clinics to make up for backlogs in surgeries. The OHC […]

‘These are vulnerable people’ – Seniors shafted in bid to transfer patients to nursing homes sans consent: Sault public health advocate

(August 30, 2022) By: Jeffery Ougler, Sault Star Skipping public hearings for legislation that would allow hospital patients awaiting Ontario long-term care to be transferred to a nursing home without their consent is “unprecedented” and targets society’s most “vulnerable,” contends a Sault Ste. Marie public health advocate. The province’s stand that the legislation will free […]

LETTER & RELEASE: “Rife with discrimination against the elderly,” Bill 7 prompts advocates to escalate call for Human Rights Commission investigation into systemic ageism in Ontario health policy

(August 31, 2022) Toronto, ON – At a press conference held today, the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC), the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly (ACE), and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) announced they are escalating their call for the Ontario Human Rights Commission to launch a formal inquiry into systemic discrimination in the provision […]

Ford government passes motion to skip public hearings on long-term care legislation

(August 29, 2022) By: The Canadian Press Ontario’s Progressive Conservative government passed a motion Monday to skip public hearings for legislation that would allow hospital patients awaiting long-term care to be transferred to a home without their consent. Long-Term Care Minister Paul Calandra has said the legislation will free up badly needed acute care beds in […]

Health care privatization isn’t new, needs to stop, say experts

(August 26, 2022) By: Taylor Pace, Guelph Today After the provincial government hinted at increased health care privatization, Ontario residents and health care workers have been anxiously waiting to see what happens next. In Guelph, privatization has slowly been filtering in since the early ’90s, according to former chair of the Guelph Wellington chapter of […]

Hotel turned hospital expanded as pressure mounts at Hamilton Health Sciences

(August 26, 2022) By: Joanna Frketich, Hamilton Spectator Hamilton’s largest hospital network is opening up 30 more beds at a downtown Satellite Health Facility to cope with increasing pressure on the health-care system. Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) consistently has more than 200 patients ready to be discharged from hospital but are waiting for services in […]

Bill 7: Ontario plans to bypass public hearings to pass controversial LTC bill

(August 25, 2022) By: Alex Last, CHCH There is mounting pressure from the opposition tonight as the Ford government plans to bypass public hearings in order to quickly pass controversial long-term care legislation. Bill 7 would allow hospital patients to be moved to a temporary long-term care home without their consent and if they refuse, […]

Long-term care consent bill making way through Queen’s Park despite opposition from health care advocates

(August 25, 2022) By: Durham Radio News The provincial government is reportedly looking to skip a public-hearing stage as they push through legislation affecting hospital patients waiting for long-term care. Bill 7 would allow health care planners to decide how eligible a hospital patient is for long-term care, and then authorize them for admission into […]

Ontario’s health care plan gets mixed reviews

(August 23, 2022) By: Pam Wright, The Chatham Voice The chair of the Chatham-Kent Health Coalition says Ontario’s new five-point health-care plan doesn’t bode well for marginalized citizens. According to Shirley Roebuck, the government “didn’t listen to stakeholders” when it devised its plan to curtail wait times by freeing up beds in hospitals and long-term […]

FACT CHECKER & RELEASE: Ford Government’s Claims Re. Forcing Elderly Patients into Long-Term Care in Contravention of their Right to Consent

(August 25, 2022) Toronto – Here are the facts about the Ford government’s new legislation, Bill 7 – More Beds, Better Care Act, 2022, which was introduced in the Legislature last week and is currently under debate. The government has made an array of claims, some of which have been printed in major media stories, […]

Sending seniors to LTC bed not of their choosing ‘very serious’

(August 22, 2022) By: Bay Today Imagine your loved one being placed where physical distance is a barrier to maintaining the relationship with your loved one. Local Labour Council President Henri Giroux has slammed a provincial government proposal to free up hospital beds by sending seniors to long term homes not of their choosing as “shameful.” […]

LETTER: Ford has no mandate to privatize health-care

(August 22, 2022) By: Shirley Roebuck in Chatham This Week Last week, the Minister of Health and the Minister of LTC announced new legislation, entitled “More Beds, Better Care”. It will be put to a vote, probably in the second week of September. All of the regulations have not been made public yet, but basically […]

LETTER: Privatization will not fix health care

(August 22, 2022) By: Shirley Roebuck in the Sarnia Observer Before Doug Ford and the Conservatives were re-elected to a majority government, an all-candidates meeting was held in Sarnia. Incumbent Bob Bailey was asked multiple questions about health care in Ontario. He stated: “I want to put to rest this notion by – well, I […]

Concern rises about health-care privatization following provincial announcement

(August 22, 2022) By: Brigid Goulem, Kingston Whig Standard Health care advocates across Ontario are concerned following the announcement that the Ontario government will be relying on private surgical clinics to attempt to alleviate the surgical backlog across the province. In a media release issued on Thursday afternoon, Ontario minister of health Sylvia Jones announced […]

Transfert de patients vers des foyers de soins : atteinte au droit au consentement?

(August 19, 2022) By: Grégory Wilson, Radio Canada La Coalition ontarienne de la santé ainsi que des militants pour les droits des aînés se disent préoccupés et alarmés par le projet de loi du gouvernement Ford qui permettra de transférer des patients dans un foyer temporaire en attendant un lit dans le foyer de leur […]

Advocates, critics warn Ontario’s planned changes to long-term care are a violation of patient rights

(August 19, 2022) By: Vanessa Balintec, CBC News A group of senior care advocates and critics is warning planned changes to the long-term care sector are a fundamental violation of patient rights. On Thursday, Long-Term Care Minister Paul Calandra introduced new legislation that, if passed, would allow hospitals to transfer patients awaiting a bed in their preferred LTC […]

‘Morally repugnant’: Ontario plan to move seniors from hospital to long-term care criticized

(August 19, 2022) By: CTV News The Ontario government’s plan to move some seniors from hospital to long-term care beds outside of their community is being heavily criticized by the Ontario Health Coalition. Link to video coverage

OHC Expresses Concern About Privatized Healthcare

(August 19, 2022) By: 98.9 myFM News The Ontario Healthcare Coalition says they’re on full alert regarding the possibility of the government further privatizing healthcare in the province. OHC executive director Natalie Mehra said the throne speech and health minister Sylvia Jones comments were signs that the not-for-profit healthcare system is at risk. The OHC […]

Ontario’s new health-care plan falls short, says NDP health critic

(August 19, 2022) By: Jonathan Migneault, CBC News The Ontario government’s new five-point plan to ease health-care pressures doesn’t do enough to address severe staffing shortages, says NDP health critic France Gélinas. On Thursday Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced a new health-care plan meant to reduce pressure on hospitals and attract more health professionals […]

Elderly soon to be forced out of hospital and into long-term care beds, coalition says

(August 19, 2022) By: Dave Battagello, Windsor Star Health care changes announced this week by the provincial government may spell trouble for seniors as it includes plans to force some out of hospital beds and into long-term care homes not of their choice — possibly a great distance away from their home community, said the Ontario […]

Dr. Zoutman takes issue with healthcare privatization efforts by the Ford government.

(August 18, 2022) By: NEWSTALK1010 Dr. Dick Zoutman, former chief of staff of the Scarborough Health Network, current Board member of Ontario Health Coalition and a professor at Queen’s and University of Toronto, explains to Moore In The Morning why he takes issue with healthcare privatization efforts by the Ford government. Link to radio interview

The 519 Podcast presents Crisis in the ER? Examining Ontario healthcare

(August 18, 2022) By: Craig Needles, 519 Podcast This summer, we’ve begun to see some startling news come out of our local healthcare systems. ER closures in Clinton and St. Marys, major staffing shortages that are impacting the care we receive, under funding in our hospitals, and burnout from the front line workers we rely […]

Ontarians waiting in hospital for prefered long-term care home may be placed in any LTC home temporarily

(August 18, 2022) By: Alex Last, CHCH The province unveiled its plan to stabilize the system and keep hospitals open. Part of the plan calls for patients in hospital who are waiting for a bed in long-term care (LTC), to be placed in any LTC facility with a room, while they wait for a spot […]

‘It is an asinine idea’: Fears of privatization of health care rise in Ontario

(August 18, 2022) By: Elisabetta Bianchini, Yahoo News As part of the Ontario’s “Plan to Stay Open: Health System Stability and Recovery,” the provincial government will increase investment in surgeries in paediatric hospitals, and private clinics covered by Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP). This comes after the provincial government faced criticism and fears, after suggesting […]

‘It’s corrosive. They’re price gouging:’ Agency staffing is costing hospitals, LTC homes, critics say

(August 18, 2022) By: Joanne Laucius, Ottawa Citizen Ontario hospitals and LTC homes are filling in workforce gaps with nurses and other workers hired from agencies at a cost of more than two times the hourly rate that staff earn. The issue was bubbling beneath the surface, particularly in the Toronto area and northern Ontario, […]

RELEASE: Doug Ford’s new legislation being pushed through the Legislature gives new powers to force the elderly & persons with disabilities into substandard long-term care homes: “morally repugnant”

(August 19, 2022) Advocates and experts spoke with one voice today decrying the new law that the Ford government introduced yesterday and intends to pass within just two weeks. The new law, disingenuously titled “More Beds, Better Care Act” gives new powers to force the elderly and persons with disabilities who are waiting in hospitals […]

FACT CHECKER & RELEASE: Health Coalition response to Ford government’s plans to move seniors out of hospitals & privatize hospital diagnostics and surgeries to for-profit clinics and hospitals

(August 18, 2022) The Ford government released what it called a five-point health care plan this morning in a press conference. In summary: On COVID-19 there was nothing new. On the unprecedented staffing crisis in Ontario’s hospitals, long-term care and home care, there was another in a long string of reannouncements of plans to bring […]

Ontario Health Coalition speaks out following more talks of healthcare privatization

(August 17, 2022) By: 94.1 myFM News With the provincial government keeping the door open to further privatizing healthcare, the Ontario Health Coalition is speaking up. The group which represents 750,000 citizens and over 500 organizations says their mission statement is to improve the public healthcare system. Executive director Natalie Mehra said they were taken […]

OHC: “Everything is on the table” to defend public health care

(August 16, 2022) By: 99.1 News Ontario Health Coalition executive director Natalie Mehra speaking during a Zoom news conference, August 16, 2022. Health care advocates in Ontario are more concerned than ever about potential privatization of public services. Over the last few weeks, both Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones have come under […]

Pénurie de personnel infirmier : le recours au privé fait exploser les coûts

(August 16, 2022) By: Radio Canada Le recours au personnel infirmier d’agences privées pour pallier la pénurie de personnel qui sévit dans les hôpitaux de la province fait exploser les dépenses. Pour le réseau hospitalier University Health Network (UHN), basé à Toronto, les dépenses d’embauche d’infirmières venant du privé sont passées d’environ 775 000 $ en 2021 à […]

Ontario Health wants public-private integration as hospitals struggle with staffing

(August 16, 2022) By: Colin D’Mello, Global News The head of Ontario’s health-care bureaucracy wants more integration between the public and private sectors to prevent hospitals from being “cannibalized” as the Ford government considers introducing more privately delivered care to reduce pressure on the public system. In a sit-down interview with Global News, the CEO […]

Privatization concerns growing larger

(August 16, 2022) By: Maureen Revait, Windsor News Today The Ontario Health Coalition is becoming increasingly worried about the Ford government’s plan to privatize health care in the province. After the health minister and Premier Doug Ford made comments about ‘exploring all options’ to fix the health care crisis the coalition is once again raising […]

Ontario health advocate sees ‘fight of our lives’ against private health care

(August 16, 2022) By: CBC News Ontario needs to improve the health care system it has and not engage in ‘bold new experiments with for-profit privatization,’ says Ontario Health Coalition executive director Natalie Mehra. Link to video interview

Health coalition vows to fight any privatization efforts by Ford government

(August 16, 2022) By: CBC News A coalition of health experts is vowing Tuesday to defend Ontario’s public health care system from further privatization, days after the provincial government confirmed “all options are on the table” to address an ongoing health-care staff shortage. The Ontario Health Coalition (OHC), which represents more than 500 organizations, says it’s consulting with […]

EVENT: 2022 Health Action Assembly & Annual Conference

(September 28, 2022) Ontario Health Coalition Health Action Assembly & Annual Conference In person: Central YMCA, 20 Grosvenor Street, Toronto, or by Zoom for those who want to participate virtually (from home by computer) Saturday October 1st & Sunday October 2nd 10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. 9 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Featuring Key […]

Liberal MP tables bill that would criminalize long-term care neglect but concerns linger

(July 16, 2022) By: Marie-Danielle Smith, The Canadian Press Cathy Legere saw firsthand the conditions that elder residents of long-term care were enduring, and the intense pressure that personal care staff were under, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The retired infection control nurse volunteered her services at the Orchard Villa home where […]

Frey veut criminaliser les établissements de soins à longue durée négligents

(July 16, 2022) By: Marie-Danielle Smith, La Presse Canadienne OTTAWA — Deux ans après que la première vague de COVID-19 eut démontré une certaine incurie dans le système de santé de longue durée au pays, le gouvernement fédéral n’a toujours pas bougé, malgré ses promesses exprimées dans le discours du Trône, en 2020. «Le gouvernement […]

Frey veut criminaliser les établissements de soins à longue durée négligents

Liberal MP tables bill that would criminalize long-term care neglect but concerns linger

The Shadow Side of the Rise of Big Hospital Foundation Gifts: Donation Disparities, Roller Coaster Giving and Donor Influence

(July 13, 2022) By: Gabe Oatley, Future of Good The discrepancy in donations could have consequences. If a community can’t come up with the money for its local share, the project will stall, preventing a community from securing much-need equipment for renovations, says Monika Turner, Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) policy director. She stresses […]

The Shadow Side of the Rise of Big Hospital Foundation Gifts: Donation Disparities, Roller Coaster Giving and Donor Influence

Craig Needles Podcast Episode 86: Healthcare in Ontario, LAVs in Saudi Arabia

(July 12, 2022) By: Craig Needles, Blackburn News With concerns about hospital wait times amid another potential wave of serious COVID cases, Craig talks to Peter Bergmanis of the Ontario Health Coalition about the state of the system in the province. Also – why wasn’t healthcare a bigger topic during the provincial election? Then, Craig […]

Craig Needles Podcast Episode 86: Healthcare in Ontario, LAVs in Saudi Arabia

‘Long, hard summer’ looms in hospital ERs for exhausted staff, forced-to-wait patients: Doctor

(July 11, 2022) By: Jonathan Juha, The London Free Press Some hospitals in the London region are running some of Ontario’s shortest emergency room wait times, but lineups in London are roughly three times as long if not more, latest figures show. The snapshot of the situation in emergency medicine comes from figures reported for […]

‘Long, hard summer’ looms in hospital ERs for exhausted staff, forced-to-wait patients: Doctor

EVENT: Ontario Health Coalition Post-Election Debrief & Assembly

(June 24, 2022) We are so proud to have worked with all of you to do our utmost to set the health care issues leading into the election. We mounted a very significant fightback against privatization and won major policy shifts among the opposition parties. We forced the Ford government to backtrack on its hospital […]

OPINION: Universal health-care privatization is unhealthy if profit ‘trumps everything else’

(June 14, 2022) By: Patricia Baker, The Sault Star In order to begin the long overdue restoration of our universal health care system in Ontario and Canada, hospital/long-term care, public health administrators, private for-profit chains and governments need to start looking at their workforce as an irreplaceable resource worth its weight in gold. […]

Executive director Natalie Mehra speaks to ARM Chapter 12 OSSTF Toronto at the ARM AGM 2022

(June 9, 2022) By: ARM Chapter 12 OSSTF Toronto Natalie Mehra, Executive Director of the Ontario Health Coalition addressed the ARM Chapter 12 Annual General Meeting on June 8, 2022. The meeting took place virtually, and her address was recorded. Natalie describes the current crisis in public health care in Ontario. Unfortunately, Natalie’s camera was […]

Bailey challenged on Tory claims about healthcare spending

(June 9, 2022) By: Shirley Roebuck, The Sarnia Journal Bailey challenged on Tory claims about healthcare spending Sir: Regarding the May 19 article, Healthcare dominated Sarnia-Lambton candidate debate. MPP Bob Bailey inferred that the Sarnia Lambton Health Coalition and Ontario Health Coalition were lying about Doug Ford’s and Bob Bailey’s plans for public health care. […]

Ontario doctor who charged for tests he didn’t do may still keep the money

(June 9, 2022) BY: Jon Woodward, CTV News Ontario’s physician watchdog has come down as hard as it can on a doctor who it found billed the province’s public medical system for tens of thousands of tests he didn’t do — but the maximum penalty doesn’t come close to the money he took. And […]

OPINION: The privatization of hospital services under Doug Ford

(June 7, 2022) By: Natalie Mehra, Toronto Sun The Ford government is planning to privatize our public hospital services. This statement is based on a video of the minister of health, the government’s own written plans, and a Ford government press release announcing millions of dollars to expand private clinics. There is no […]

Une autre majorité Ford nécessite de construire une gauche combative

(June 7, 2022) By: David Bush, Presse Toi à Gauche ! Mais nous devons nous garder de brosser un tableau trop sombre du résultat des élections ou de rejeter l’électorat. Avec un taux de participation de 43 %, l’élection provinciale de 2022 a été de loin la plus faible participation électorale de l’histoire de l’Ontario. Les […]

No evidence of new charges for Ontario blood tests, despite social media concerns

(June 01, 2022) By:Elizabeth Payne, Toronto Sun There have been no changes to lab tests covered under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan that may have led to a patient being billed, a Ministry of Health spokesperson has confirmed. Bill Campbell issued the statement in response to multiple claims on social media that some Ontario […]

Aucun test retiré de la couverture de l’Assurance-santé de l’Ontario, selon le ministère

(June 1, 2022) By: Radio-Canada La plupart des tests de laboratoire courants qui sont prescrits sont couverts par l’Assurance-santé de l’Ontario. PHOTO : GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO Le ministère de la Santé de l’Ontario affirme ne pas avoir réduit le remboursement de tests sanguins déjà couverts par la province au cours des dernières années, après une série de messages […]

GUELPH POLITICAST #326 – Healthcare: A Pre-Election Podcast

(June 1, 2o22) By: Adam A. Donaldson, Guelph Politicast Affordability has kind of hijacked the priorities this election, but once it would have been possible to see healthcare being the number one issue of the 2022 campaign. From more funding for our overburdened hospitals, getting for-profit companies out of long-term care, and expanding coverage to […]

No tests cut from OHIP coverage recently, says ministry amid reports of charges for blood work

(May 31, 2022) Ontario’s Ministry of Health says there have been no cuts to provincially covered blood tests in recent years, after a string of viral social media posts in which people said they have been charged for lab work. In a statement issued this week, the ministry said that since 2017, there have been […]

What were people protesting at the private Doug Ford Rally in London, Ontario?

(May 30, 2022) By: The Kelly Cutrara Show, 640 Toronto Kelly talks to Jeff Hanks, Co-Chair of the of the London Health Coalition, and the man who rushed the stage at the Doug Ford rally this past weekend in London. Click here for full video

Protestors disrupt Ford’s campaign rally in London, Ont.

(May 29, 2022) By: CP24 Progressive Conservative Leader Doug Ford’s campaign rally in London, Ont. on Sunday afternoon was briefly disrupted by protesters. Ford was beginning to deliver his remarks at Lamplighter Inn when a man came up to the stage and was heard telling the PC leader, “Mr. Ford, you’re privatizing our health care. […]

Here’s why OHIP and LifeLabs are trending in Ontario right now

(May 30, 2022) By: Becky Robertson, blogTO There’s a ton of chatter across social media today on the topic of healthcare in Ontario as we sit just days away from a Provincial Election, and people are calling Premier Doug Ford out hard on what appears to be some cuts he’s recently made to OHIP coverage. […]

Ontario hospital network says it sometimes charges patients for variety of tests

(May 31, 2022) By: Chris Herhalt, CTV News Amid ongoing concerns about fees for routine diagnostic medical testing in Ontario, one hospital network has charged patients to perform a raft of different tests – ranging from STDs to cancer screening to select blood tests – in certain circumstances for at least five years. Fee guides […]

Province ‘should have known’ state of long-term care

(May 31, 2022) By: Andrew Duffy, North Bay Nugget Advocates for Ontario’s long-term care residents say Premier Doug Ford and his government should have known which long-term care homes would be most at risk in a pandemic based on years of inspection reports, risk modelling and bed classifications. In an interview, NDP health critic France […]

Protesters storm stage to interrupt private Doug Ford Rally in London, Ont.

(May 29, 2022) By: Brent Lale, CTV News London The Ontario PC Party wasn’t about to let a few rogue protesters deter them from getting their message out to supporters Sunday. With a few hundred people inside the Lamplighter Inn in London, Ont. the rally began with a couple of interruptions. The co-chair of […]

Doug Ford’s Health Care Privatization Agenda Must Be Stopped

(May 26, 2022) By: Vi Bui, The Council of Canadians At its core, health care must be public and well-funded to guarantee services to all. Yet, thanks to decades of underfunding and privatization, our public health systems in Ontario have been under tremendous strain – a trend that the COVID-19 pandemic has both highlighted and […]

Doug Ford is spending billions to expand nursing home chains with some of the worst COVID-19 death rates

(May 27, 2022) By: Marco Chown Oved, Kenyon Wallace & Ed Tubb,Toronto Star Nursing home chains with some of the highest COVID-19 death rates are set to reap big financial rewards under the Ford government’s $6.4-billion expansion of the province’s long-term-care system. According to records obtained by the Star, more than half of the approximately […]

How Ontario’s elder-care policies favour for-profit homes

(May 21, 2022) By: Karen Howlett, The Globe and Mail Bernard Boreland, CEO/administrator with Mariann Home chats with resident Margaret Bourke, in the long-term care facility in Richmond Hill, Ont., on Mar 22. FRED LUM/THE GLOBE AND MAIL Bernard Boreland’s first inkling that the Ontario government planned to claw back wage increases for his nursing-home […]

VIDEO: Ford Government’s Plan to Defund & Privatize Our Public Health Care System

(May 24, 2022) There is a large for-profit health care industry banging at our door. If we don’t provide the staffing, provide the funding in our public system, there is no choice but to privatize, because people still need care. We must tell Ford and the for-profit health care industry that our public health care […]

There’s a moral obligation to end the suffering of LTC residents and staff

(May 20, 2022) By: Doreen Nicoll According to Public Health Ontario, 4,517 people living in long-term care (LTC) homes have died from COVID. That number would be far greater if it included LTC residents who died from malnutrition, dehydration, lack of medical care, lack of care and negligence. According to Natalie Mehra, Executive Director […]

Ontario election: leaders debate – we check facts

(May 18, 2022) By: School Magazine Alright, we know the Ontario election, like all others, is about retail politics – how candidates might best appear to be doing what needs to be done without costing their constituents any more than they absolutely have to. It’s not about a vision of possibilities – as we come […]

Ontario Health Coalition pushing for proof that long-term care promises are being met

(May 19, 2022) By: Millar Hill, Blackburn News Blackburnnews.com file photo. A health advocacy organization is putting pressure on the Progressive Conservatives to show that their promises of improving long-term care in Ontario are being met. Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) Executive Director Natalie Mehra says last fall, the Ford government promised a minimum care standard, increased fines, […]

Election primer: Ontario’s health care crisis

(May 19, 2022) By: Canadian Dimension The Ontario Health Coalition is warning against unprecedented health care privatization and is calling for it to be a key election issue. Photo by Internal Museum of the Red Cross and Red Crescent/ Unsplash. As the writ was dropped for the June 2 provincial election, the Ontario Health Coalition […]

Kingston Health Coalition responds to provincial leaders’ debate

(May 17, 2022) By: Dylan Chenier, Kingstonist Members of the Kingston Health Coalition hold up signs at the corner of Sir John A. Macdonald Boulevard and Princess Street on Thursday, Jul. 22, 2021. Photo by Penny Cadue. Last night, in the first and only official provincial leaders’ debate, Ontarians had an opportunity to hear from […]

VIDEO: Privatization of COVID-19 Vaccinations & Testing in Ontario

(May 20, 2022) One of the ways the Doug Ford government is privatizing health care is by privatizing COVID-19 vaccinations, which used to be provided by public health, and COVID-19 testing, which was handed off to for-profit companies charging more than $200 for a test. We must put an end to for-profit health care. Analysis

VIDEO: Doug Ford & The For-Profit Long-Term Care Lobby Industry

(May 19, 2022) Despite for-profit long-term care companies being responsible for a majority of the deaths in long-term care during the pandemic, there has been no accountability and care has not improved. Instead, there is a revolving door between the Ontario Conservative Party, the Ford government and the for-profit long-term care industry. We must invest […]

REPORT: Crisis Unabated: The Failure to Improve Dangerously Low Care Levels in Ontario’s Long-Term Care Homes

(May 18, 2022) Click here for printable version of report found below. Summary of Findings After enormous public pressure, the Ford government committed to improving care levels in Ontario’s long-term care homes. Even though residents were dying literally by the thousands in the pandemic, the plan which is very simple and could have been forged […]

Renfrew County members sought for health advocacy group

(May 12, 2022) By: Derek Dunn, The Star A coalition of more than 400 health organizations with chapters all around the Arnprior Renfrew area is seeking to establish one in the county. The idea is meeting with approval from Renfrew county’s leading health official, Dr. Robert Cushman. The Acting Medical Officer of Health with experience […]

Niagara Health reports the death of two more Niagara residents

(May 13, 2022) By: Victoria Nicolaou, Niagara Falls Review COVID-19 infections may be slightly down as compared to the last few weeks, but hospitalizations remain high, and Niagara’s acting medical officer of health warns there continues to be “a lot of risk” in the community. “While we might be looking more positive, it’s going to […]

Sudbury letter: Use election to fix long-term care

(May 11, 2022) By: Letter to the editor, Sarnia & Lambton County This Week Melissa Wood, co-chair of the Sudbury chapter of the Ontario Health Coalition, highlights health-care challenges in the province, including a shortage of personal support workers and further privatization of long-term care. PHOTO BY JIM MOODIE/SUDBURY STAR The provincial June election is approaching […]

‘Incremental benefit’: Simcoe-Muskoka’s top doc won’t back mask mandate call from colleagues, Ontario Health Coalition

(May 11, 2022) By: Chris Simon, The Star Is it time to re-implement more stringent masking mandates? Dr. Charles Gardner, the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit’s medical officer of health, doesn’t see a need to impose broad new mask rules in indoor public settings right now. “At this time, with the current wave trending downwards, wastewater […]

Election candidates for Sarnia-Lambton talk health care

(May 10, 2022) By: Tyler Kula, Woodstock Sentinel-Review Sarnia-Lambton provincial election candidates Bob Bailey, left, Mark Russell, Keith Benn and Dylan Stelpstra participated in an all-candidates meeting at the Sarnia Golf and Curling Club May 10, 2022 (Tyler Kula. The Observer). Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives have no plans to privatize the health-care system, says the party’s […]

Ontario election 2022: Will the pandemic tragedy in long-term care lead to real change?

(May 9, 2022) By: Elizabeth Payne, Ottawa Citizen Ontario’s long-term care system was a crisis waiting to happen when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020. Years of neglect, crowded conditions, chronic understaffing and underfunding combined with a lack of effective preparation for the long-anticipated pandemic, set the stage for disaster when COVID-19 began to […]

Ontario’s healthcare system is not for sale

(May 6, 2022) By: Doreen Nicoll, Rabble A photo of a car sticker opposing the privatization of healthcare from the Ontario Health Coalition Facebook page. Who owns the Ontario healthcare system? And, in who’s interest? These are the questions Natalie Mehra wants Ontarians to ask candidates running in the provincial election. As executive director of Ontario […]

The privatization of long-term care homes in Ontario must be stopped

(May 6, 2022) By: Rabble Radio This week on the show, rabble contributor Doreen Nicoll interviews Natalie Mehra, the executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition. The Ontario Health Coalition is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest activist coalition and network whose primary goal is to protect and improve Ontario’s public health care system. The coalition […]

Health coalition asking provincial candidates to prioritize healthcare

(May 5, 2022) By: Melanie Irwin, Sarnia News Today Ontario Health Coalition supporters at Queen’s Park rally, October 10, 2018 (Photo from OHC Facebook). The Ontario Health Coalition is calling on provincial election candidates to make commitments to improve all aspects of healthcare if elected next month. Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell accepted Doug Ford’s request to […]

Provincial candidates should push for growing health-care services in burgeoning Durham: regional chair

(May 5, 2022) By: Reka Szekely, Welland Tribune Every candidate running in the provincial election in Durham should work to understand the region’s health-care challenges, says Regional Chair John Henry. Henry said massive growth in the area, with the population expected to double by 2051, means that health-care services must continue to grow. “When you […]

VIDEO: Doug Ford’s Broken Long-Term Care Promises

(May 6, 2022) Please share widely. Analysis Despite promising to fix long-term care, the Ford government let thousands of residents die and, rather than holding operators to account, they intend to give tens of thousands of beds to for-profit companies with ghastly records of care. We want accountability for what has happened, which we’ve never […]

Let’s put this crisis to good use

(May 4, 2022) By: Richard Mahoney, The Glengarry News They are off and promising. Another election campaign has officially begun in Ontario, where for the next month strategists and candidates will be seeking the hearts and ballots of voters. Talk is cheap. And that is a good thing because everything else costs an arm and […]

RELEASE: Ontario Election Health Care Primer: Health Coalition Brings Warning and Outlines Key Issues as the Writ Drops

(May 5, 2022) Toronto – As the writ was dropped for the June 2 provincial election, the Ontario Health Coalition warned against unprecedented health care privatization and called for it to be a key election issue. The Coalition also outlined a set of health care priorities for Ontarians. First, on privatization: The Ford government is […]

Health experts urge province to reinstate mandatory masking

(May 2, 2022) By: Durham Radio News Masks in most public settings in Ontario are no longer required. However, as transmission of COVID-19 remains high, health experts are asking the province to reinstate mandatory masking. On Monday, the Ontario Health Coalition held a press conference with health and legal experts. One of those to speak […]

Sudbury workers, community activists sound the alarm on May Day

(May 02, 2022) By: Jim Moodie, Sudbury Star It’s a date to celebrate workers but also a call of distress, and those gathered Sunday in Memorial Park were doing both — honouring those who drive the economy with their labour while sounding the alarm on attacks to their livelihoods and dignity. “May Day has […]

Reinstating masks would help get Ontario’s sixth pandemic wave under control, say experts

(May 2, 2022) By: Jacquie Miller, Ottawa Citizen A disposable face mask hanging on a street pole. PHOTO BY KEVIN KING /Postmedia With COVID-19 levels remaining high in Ontario, a coalition of health groups is calling on the province to reinstate indoor mask requirements, which were dropped on March 21. Requiring masks in indoor public […]

Rally to stop privatization of healthcare set for downtown Oakville

(May 2, 2022) By: Gene Pereira, inSauga.com The Ontario Health Coalition is holding a rally to stop privatization of the healthcare system at the town square in downtown Oakville this Friday. OHC PHOTO. The Ontario Health Coalition’s (OHC) fight to stop privatization of public health care is taking to the streets of Oakville. The group […]

New mask mandates urged as Niagara Health reports five new COVID patient deaths

(May 2, 2022) By: Allan Benner, St. Catharines Standard As COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths continue to increase, a public health legal expert says a lack of action among boards of health “feels like an abdication or dereliction of duty.” “The duty of the board (of health) is to prevent disease and control the spread of […]

‘It just absolutely can’t happen’: Aurora resident hosts virtual privatization of health care summit

(May 1, 2022) By: Laura Broadley, The Star Aurora resident Mary Jo Nabuurs is passionate about public health care in Ontario, so much so that she volunteers her time with the Ontario Health Coalition. The coalition recently hosted a virtual summit, with a focus on Scarborough, Toronto and York Region, to discuss the privatization […]

RELEASE: Health & legal experts call for reinstatement of masking protections as Omicron – one of the most infectious viruses known – tears through Ontario population

(May 2, 2022) Their expertise is unassailable, their message clear: in a virtual press conference this morning hosted by the Ontario Health Coalition, health and legal experts called on the Ontario government, the Chief Medical Officer of Health and local Medical Officers of Health and their Public Health Boards of Directors to do their duty […]

Amendments To Act Governing Ross Memorial Hospital Passed Second And Third Reading In The Legislature Today

(April 28, 2022) By: Pamela Vanmeer, Kawartha 411 KAWARTHA LAKES-The Ross Memorial Hospital recently applied for special legislation to change the name of the hospital corporation and to change its objects, its powers, the composition of its board and its membership structure and today those changes passed despite objections from local health coalitions and the […]

Long-term care staffers honoured at Cornwall National Day of Mourning

(April 28, 2022) By: Laura Dalton, Cornwall Standard Freeholder Community members and city councillors gathered in Lamoureux Park Thursday to commemorate workers who have been injured or killed on the job. The service began with a land acknowledgement and prayer for those who have died, presented by Cornwall Coun. Elaine MacDonald, who is also […]

Health Care Coalition Says Proposed Changes To Governance Leave Ross Memorial Hospital Open To Amalgamation, Reduced Services

(April 27, 2022) By: Pamela Vanmeer, Kawartha 411 KAWARTHA LAKES-The Kawartha Lakes Health Coalition (KLHC)and the Ontario Health Coalition say they are very concerned about proposed changes to the governance at Ross Memorial Hospital. “I’m particularly concerned because when we first met with the hospital they said this is just housekeeping, modernizing the language. […]

VIDEO: Doug Ford: Our Hospitals Are Not For Sale

(April 27, 2022) Analysis 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 […]

Ontario ignoring lessons of pandemic, building a generation of private care homes, critics say

(April 22, 2022) By: Elizabeth Payne, Ottawa Citizen Critics are accusing the provincial government of ignoring hard-learned lessons of the pandemic after awarding licences for hundreds of new and upgraded long-term care beds in Ottawa to private companies. Three private long-term care companies, including one with among the highest death rates during the […]

Boring election? The Ontario Health Coalition wants everyone to pay attention

(Apr 20, 2022) By: Jeff Green, Frontenac News Ontario is a couple of weeks away from the start of a short, one month election campaign, but you would think the election is years off judging from media coverage this week. In a scan of the home pages of 5 major news websites this morning (April […]

Fight health-care privatization – Giroux

(April 19, 2022) By: PJ Wilson, North Bay Nugget People across the province have to act now to make sure no provincial government, whatever stripe, brings in private health care, the president of the North Bay and District Health Coalition said Tuesday. Henri Giroux said Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott, in an announcement Feb. […]

Ontario Health Coalition warns of Ford government’s healthcare privatization plans in virtual meeting

(April 19, 2022) By: Brent Sleightholm, Elliot Lake Today In a virtual meeting the executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) warned of the dangers of Ford government initiatives to broaden private health care in the province. Natalie Mehra played a video clip taken from a Feb. 1 announcement in which Health Minister Christine Elliott […]

Ontario health professionals plead for continued masking mandates in high-risk settings

(April 17, 2022) By: Christian D’Avino, CTV News Healthcare officials across Ontario are calling on the province to extend its high-risk setting mask mandate past its current expiration date. Mask mandates in hospitals, long-term care facilities, other health care settings and public transit are set to come down on April 27, as Ontario continues to […]

Ontario heading toward ‘two-tier health-care system,’ York Region coalition says

(April 12, 2022) By: Michele Weisz, Newmarket Today The Toronto and York Health Coalition, a branch of the Ontario Health Coalition, is holding an emergency virtual summit to create public awareness for what they consider to be the provincial government’s goal of privatizing health care. “So many people aren’t even aware that this stuff […]

Ontario Health Coalition hosts Cornwall summit, discourages health care privatization

(April 11, 2022) By: Shawna O’Neill, Belleville The Intelligencer An online Emergency Summit was hosted by the Cornwall Health Coalition on Saturday, discussing alarming statistics pertaining to Ontario’s increasing privatization of health care. A number of industry professionals spoke during the summit, as well as local politicians. With the provincial election less than two months away, […]

Health care coalition spreading anti-privatization message prior to election

(April 6, 2022) By: Stephen Petrick, The Times Signs saying “Don’t Privatize our Public Health Care” will likely pop up on some Haliburton County lawns, ahead of the June 2 Ontario election. The signs are the work of the Ontario Health Coalition and part of a campaign to advocate for higher care standards, particularly in […]

Coalition sees health-care spending as an election issue

(April 6, 2022) By: Tyler Kula An Ontario health-care watchdog group wants voters to think about issues like long-term care bed investments mostly going to for-profit homes when they go to the provincial polls in June. “What we want to do is to try to educate as many people as we can about really […]

LTC concerns continue, despite provincial plans to hold operators accountable

(April 6, 2022) By: Allan Benner, The Peterborough Examiner A Niagara-based long-term-care advocacy group remains concerned about plans to award contracts and beds to homes that failed to protect residents during the pandemic, despite recent provincial legislation that will hold long-term-care providers accountable. The Ministry of Long-Term Care provided a statement in response to […]

Online Summit Continues Fight Against Health Care Privatization

(April 6, 2022) By: CKXS 99.1 FM Chair of the Chatham-Kent, Wallaceburg and Walpole Island, and Sarnia-Lambton Health Coalitions, Shirley Roebuck. An advocacy group continues to press the Ontario government to keep health care public.The Ontario Health Coalition is holding a virtual summit Thursday evening to fight privatization and protect public health care services. Shirley […]

Ontario Health Coalition plans online summit

(April 5, 2022) By: Brian Kelley, The Sault Star Ontario Health Coalition hosts an online emergency summit on April 12. “ Our goal is to protect and improve our vital public health-care services and stop the unprecedented for-profit privatization of health care,” a release says. Presenters include Marie DellaVedova and Albert Dupuis, OHC’s Algoma […]

Coalition launching campaign to stop health care privatization

(April 5, 2022) By: Allan Benner, The Peterborough Examiner Sandra Ashcroft says conditions were “utter mayhem” while she was working to help a for-profit long-term-care home in Niagara recover from a tragic COVID-19 outbreak. But instead of home operators being held accountable for failing to protect their residents, the registered nurse said some of […]

Ontario Health Coalition will hold Halton chapter summit on April 19

(April 5, 2022) By: Oakville Beaver The Ontario Health Coalition will hold a summit on Tuesday, April 19 to discuss their fears that the Ford government will increase privatization of the province’s health-care system. The virtual event will take place at 7 p.m. Featured speakers include: • Burlington, Halton, Oakville Health Coalition chair Mervyn […]

Health Coalition hosting virtual emergency summit

(April 5, 2022) By: Stephanie Chaves, Sarnia News Today Health Care Rally at Queen’s Park Oct, 2018. Photo courtesy of Shirley Roebuck. The Sarnia-Lambton Ontario Health Coalition is hosting an emergency summit Thursday. Chair Shirley Roebuck says the goal of the virtual event is to protect and improve vital health care services in the province. […]

COVID-19 testing remains limited during new wave

(April 5, 2022) By: Brigid Goulem, Kingston Whig-Standard (Print Edition) Experts are calling for expanded access to publicly funded COVID-19 testing as COVID-19 cases continue to surge across Ontario. On Dec. 30, 2021, the Ontario government limited the eligibility for PCR tests to those who are at the highest risk of severe outcomes and to […]

Ontario Health Coalition establishing a chapter in the Algoma District

(April 5, 2022) By: Rosalind Russell, MyEspanolaNow A new chapter of the Ontario Health Coalition is being established in the Algoma District. Photo provided by SSM-Algoma Health Coalition and used with permission. A Zoom meeting is in the works by the Ontario Health Coalition to establish a chapter in the Algoma District. Advocate Albert Dupuis […]

Guelph and District Health Coalition prepares to launch ‘Fight back’ campaign

(April 4, 2022) By: Joanne Shuttleworth, The Wellington Advertiser The Guelph and District Health Coalition held an “emergency summit” on April 3 to talk about how health care is under threat of privatization in Ontario. Screenshot from Zoom meeting GUELPH – People in Wellington County, Guelph, Halton Hills and Perth County need to know that […]

COVID-19 : la médecin hygiéniste de Toronto se veut rassurante, mais prône le masque

(April 4, 2022) By: Stella Dupuy, Radio Canada French La Dre Eileen de Villa encourage la population à porter un masque « autant que possible » dans les lieux publics intérieurs, même si cette mesure n’est plus obligatoire en Ontario. Bon nombre d’experts affirment que l’Ontario est en pleine sixième vague de COVID-19. Malgré cela, […]

Health coalition blasts private care, provincial approach; Minister’s press secretary says claims are false

(April 2, 2022) By: Luke Hendry, Belleville Intelligencer (Print Edition) Ontarians must press all political parties to choose public health care over privatization, advocates said during a Quinte-Northumberland summit on the topic. Thursday night’s online meeting was organized by the Northumberland Health Coalition – a branch of the Ontario Health Coalition – in partnership with […]

‘Brink of collapse’: Privatization of health care would be a disaster, coalition says

(April 2, 2022) By: Keith Gilligan, DurhamRegion.com – Susie Kockerscheidt/Metroland A bleak picture of health care was painted at the Durham Health Coalition session on the provincial government’s plan to privatize more of the health-care system. The Zoom session, held on Tuesday, March 29, attracted between 80 and 90 people, and outlined how the system […]

Summit aims to educate on private for-profit health care

(April 1, 2022) By: Tom Morrison, The Stratford Beacon Herald Heather Kavanagh, of Chatham, is shown with a lawn sign from the Ontario Health Coalition with a message against health care privatization. Area health coalitions are holding a virtual event on the issue on April 7. PHOTO BY HANDOUT The co-chair of Southwestern Ontario health care […]

Ford is a threat to public health care in Ontario

(March 31, 2022) By: Doreen Nicoll, rabble.ca Premier of Ontario Photography/Flickr Credit: Ontario Government / Flickr In the midst of an ever-evolving COVID 19 pandemic, who in their right mind, would privatize testing and stop tracking cases? That’s exactly what Ontario Premier Doug Ford has done. On Dec. 30, 2021, Ford announced very stringent guidelines restricting […]

Updated: coalition blasts private health care; minister’s office fires back

(March 31, 2022) By: Luke Hendry, The Intelligencer A nurse prepares medication in a Belleville General Hospital hallway in 2017. Advocates for public health care are raising the alarm about the risks of private care and calling for Ontarians to oppose what they say is shift toward privatization by the provincial government. PHOTO BY LUKE HENDRY […]