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EVENTS & ACTIONS: Become a Public Medicare Defender Today

Posted: March 13, 2022

(March 13, 2023)

We are calling on all Ontarians to help fight against the privatization. Become a Public Medicare Defender today to force Doug Ford to fix the crisis in our public hospital system and stop privatization.

To sign up to become a Public Medicare Defender, fill in the form found below the slideshow on our homepage here.

Afterwards, please help by signing up your friends and family to become Public Medicare Defenders, print and distribute the leaflet found below, distribute the survey found below, and join in protests and town halls to force the Ford government to address the crisis in our public hospitals.

Our Public Hospitals are Not For Sale Leaflet

       

Download a printable version of our leaflet here


Fact Sheet: The Ford Government’s Plan to Privatize Ontario’s Public Hospital Services

For 100 years, Ontario has built our system of local public hospitals that operate on a non-profit basis, in the public interest. Under the cover of the pandemic, the Ford government began to make plans to privatize Ontario’s public hospital services, including surgeries and diagnostics to private for-profit hospitals and clinics.

To learn more, download a printable version of our fact sheet here


Survey on Privatization of Public Health Care and its Impact on Patients

HAVE YOU BEEN CHARGED USER FEES FOR HEALTH CARE?

This survey is being conducted by the Ontario Health Coalition, a public interest group dedicated to protecting and improving public health care. The survey takes most people less than 5 minutes to complete and almost everyone finishes within 10 minutes. It’s really easy to do!

Needed medical services provided by hospitals and by doctors are supposed to be covered by OHIP, paid through our taxes and provided free when we are sick or in need. However, we are receiving complaints from patients who are being charged extra fees for this care.

The Canada Health Act says that patients cannot be charged these extra fees for medically necessary hospital and doctor services. Public health care is supposed to cover all Canadians equally, but sometimes private clinics or public hospitals charge extra to patients unlawfully.

Some examples of unlawful extra fees include:

  • I was charged $2,000 for cataract surgery
  • My mother was charged $50 for a consultation with a doctor
  • The private clinic told my grandfather that he had to pay a fee for the clinic to keep his medical records
  • My wife was charged a “facility fee” at the endoscopy clinic.

Sometimes private clinics charge fees for medically unnecessary tests or procedures. When you go in for cataract surgery which is a medically necessary procedure, for example, they might charge you for extra eye measurements that are medically unnecessary. Here are some examples:

  • I was charged $200 for extra eye measurement tests when I went in for cataract surgery
  • My father was charged a $50 fee for orange juice and a DVD at a private colonoscopy or endoscopy clinic
  • My grandmother was told she should pay $1,500 for special lenses when she went in for cataract surgery.

We are concerned that the increase in extra charges threatens equal access to health care for Canadians.

We are hoping to find out what extra fees patients are being charged and whether or not patients are given a clear choice about paying fees for unnecessary services.

We will use the information to make a public report and submissions to the Minister of Health to stop extra user charges for patients and protect equal access to public health care for all Canadians. We will not include any patients’ names or personal information in the report. If you indicate that we can contact you to speak publicly about your experience we will do so, otherwise we will not use nor share your name. Thank you for taking the time to fill out this survey.

Click here for printable version of survey

Click here for fillable version of survey


Online Regional Organizing Meetings to Fight Back Against the Privatization of our Public Health Care

Now is the time to move forward concretely on the fight back to save our public hospitals. The Ford government is going to pass their legislation to privatize our public hospitals (Bill 60) in the next few weeks.

We are organizing a mass citizen-run referendum with the goal of collecting a million votes across the province. Everyone who wants to make this citizen-led referendum something that cannot be ignored has a role to play. We can absolutely shake the government if everyone who cares gets involved. If you want to get involved locally in organizing the referendum, please join the major organizing meeting for your region listed below.

Please note that these are organizing meetings. There will be no speeches or briefings. In each region, local coalitions, where they exist, will update on what is happening and where there aren’t local coalitions, we hope to work with all of you to identify a contact person for as many towns as possible. In the meetings we will move forward with identifying key contacts in every town we can; discuss getting voting stations set up and identify where; identify volunteers to leaflet, get out lawn signs, do workplace votes, staff voting stations, and help get ballot boxes set up.

South West/Central West (Guelph and S/W including: Windsor, Sarnia, Chatham, London, St. Marys, Kitchener, Oxford)

Wednesday March 15 at 7 pm

Register for the organizing meeting here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUtc–prjMtHdLl2qF2R9I_4BS1XeGAoanH

Peterborough & County, Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton Highlands, Northumberland

Monday March 20 at 6:30 pm

Register for the organizing meeting here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZApf-CqrjksHNzlbP8ZCOo7CtrIDRrKJw-V

East (From Belleville east including Ottawa, Cornwall, Perth, Smiths Falls & Kingston, Hawkesbury, Renfrew, Pembroke, Petawawa)

Tuesday March 21 at 7 pm

Register for the organizing meeting here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrc-yppjMiGNxrYjecOg_RTeEPDEljEpxQ

Niagara & Region (including West Lincoln, St.Catharines, Thorold, Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Fort Erie, Port Colborne, Welland, Wainfleet)

Wednesday March 22 at 7 pm

Register for the organizing meeting here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcqc-moqT4qEtW8jItEh67UqujnE__aM4_Z

Greater Toronto & surrounding area (Toronto, Scarborough, Etobicoke, North York, Peel, Caledon, Newmarket, Aurora, Markham, Stouffville)

Thursday March 23 at 7 pm

Register for the organizing meeting here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZErd-6tpz0pGtGVK-FDAH6huvTIhN5ELf29

Durham & Region (From Pickering to Bowmanville, including Oshawa, Ajax, Whitby, Port Perry)

Saturday March 25 at 10 am

Register for the organizing meeting here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZclcOiqqDovGNWPieILfftzY6Ix9dL94fZj

Central Region (Simcoe County, Grey Bruce & Muskoka including Huntsville, Burk’s Falls, Bracebridge, Gravenhurst, Parry Sound)

Monday March 27 at 7 pm

Register for the organizing meeting here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYqc-6vrTIpH9Za8jxoQHE3btBPLfGK8j1w

North West (from Wawa west and north including Thunder Bay, Dryden, Kenora, Fort Frances, Atikokan, Sioux Lookout)

Tuesday March 28 at 7 pm

Register for the organizing meeting here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYpf-mtpj4tH9clNqC6DBrab8IzUScQaU5Z

Hamilton, Halton & Brantford Regional Meeting (including Oakville, Halton Hills, Burlington, Milton, and Georgetown)

Wednesday March 29 at 7 pm

Registration link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwuc-GprjIrE9Y4NilG2eAnTPLbzxV1HSxk

North East (from Sault Ste. Marie east and north including St. Joseph Island, Sudbury, Elliot Lake, Blind River, North Bay, Iroquois Falls, Timmins, and as far south as South River and Stirling Falls)

Thursday March 30 at 6 pm

Register for the organizing meeting here: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcodO6sqTkjHdaQto3ipWmmsfZhC2qyrY8u