![](\"https:\/\/northernontario.ctvnews.ca\/content\/dam\/ctvnews\/en\/images\/2022\/2\/18\/healthcare-1-5787981-1645230851405.jpg\")
<\/p>\n(Feb. 18, 2022)<\/p>\n
By: Lyndsay Aelick, CTV News<\/p>\n
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The Ontario Health Coalition continues to sound the alarm about healthcare privatization in the province. (Photo from video)<\/em><\/p>\n The Ontario Health Coalition continues to sound the alarm about healthcare privatization in the province.<\/p>\n Friday, the group held one of several zoom news conference events, focusing on the Sudbury, Sault Ste Marie and North Shore regions.<\/p>\n Executive director Natalie Mehra focused on comments made by Health Minister Christine Elliott during a Feb. 1 press event.<\/p>\n \u201cMaking sure that we can let independent health facilities operate private hospitals,\u201d said Elliott.<\/p>\n Mehra said the comments are alarming.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat the minister just announced there is that she is going to let private clinics in Ontario — the independent health facilities, so over 97 per cent of which according to the provincial auditor are for-profit — to operate private hospitals,” she said.<\/p>\n “It\u2019s a bombshell and it would be devastating at any time to our public hospital system, but at this time when we\u2019re facing the worst staffing shortages that we have ever seen.”<\/p>\n Mehra said the facilities would only take profitable patients.<\/p>\n \u201cSo what we\u2019re talking about are hospitals that would take the lightest, easy-care, profitable patient out of our public health care system, leaving the heavier-care patients behind with too few staff and fewer nurses even to provide for them,” she said. “That would be absolutely disastrous.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson from Elliott’s office said Mehra’s description is not accurate.<\/p>\n \u201cIndependent health facilities and private hospitals that perform publicly funded procedures already exist in Ontario,” said a statement from press secretary Alexandra Hilkene.<\/p>\n “Her comments were in reference to the resumption of previously scheduled non-urgent procedures that may have been paused as part of Directive No. 2.”<\/p>\n Nickel Belt MPP France Gelinas was one of the people attending the virtual event. She said privatization has been going on for a long time.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you remember in Sudbury people who had hip and knee surgery you would go to the hospital to have the physiotherapy,” Gelinas said.<\/p>\n “Now it’s not available to us anymore, you have to go into a private physiotherapy clinic in town. The independent health facilities, the IHF, are all — except for one \u2013 for-profit and they\u2019re all biting at the bit to be allocated more cases.”<\/p>\n Mehra said it’s not just Elliot’s comments that have the coalition concerned. She said the privatization of surgeries and diagnostics is also listed in the province\u2019s pandemic plan.<\/p>\n Coalitions across the province will be holding meetings over the coming days to further explore what this could mean for healthcare in each region.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n