{"id":18736,"date":"2022-03-16T16:01:42","date_gmt":"2022-03-16T20:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?p=18736"},"modified":"2022-10-25T12:34:51","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T16:34:51","slug":"op-ed-doug-fords-government-is-quietly-privatizing-health-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/op-ed-doug-fords-government-is-quietly-privatizing-health-care\/","title":{"rendered":"<FONT COLOR=\"#E00000\">OP-ED: <\/FONT> Doug Ford\u2019s government is quietly privatizing health care"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>(March 15, 2022)<\/p>\n<p>By: <span class=\"article__author\"><span class=\"article__author-name article__author-name--nolink\">Nancy Olivieri<\/span><\/span><span class=\"article__author\">, <span class=\"article__author-name article__author-name--nolink\">Michael Hurley, <\/span><\/span><span class=\"article__author\"><span class=\"article__author-name article__author-name--nolink\">Natalie Mehra<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container speakable-text-block-container\">Words matter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container speakable-text-block-container\">Recently, Health Minister Christine Elliott <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a class=\"text-block__link\" style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/event-emergency-summit-to-kick-off-campaign-to-stop-health-care-privatization-and-austerity\/\">announced<\/a> <\/span>the expansion of private hospitals in Ontario. Missed this? So did many of us, possibly because of the words she selected: \u201cwe can let <a class=\"text-block__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/player\/play\/1998422595853\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">independent health facilities operate private hospitals<\/span><\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">That offhand reference to \u201cindependent health facilities\u201d sounds a whole lot better than this:<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\"><em>\u201cWe will award public funds to private, for-profit hospitals and clinics, knowing that these private facilities are associated with worse care, higher costs and more deaths.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">But if she\u2019d said <em>that<\/em>, Elliott might have been asked about the Private Hospitals Act, which <a class=\"text-block__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ontario.ca\/laws\/statute\/90p24\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">banned new private hospitals<\/span><\/a> in Ontario in 1973. Or about the <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a class=\"text-block__link\" style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/laws-lois.justice.gc.ca\/eng\/acts\/c-6\/page-1.html\">Canada Health Act<\/a><\/span>, which bans extra billing for necessary services which is, nonetheless, <a class=\"text-block__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/private-clinics-the-threat-to-public-medicare-in-canada-results-of-surveys-with-private-clinics-and-patients\/\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">regularly violated in private clinics<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">After the <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a class=\"text-block__link\" style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/event-emergency-summit-to-kick-off-campaign-to-stop-health-care-privatization-and-austerity\/\">Ontario Health Coalition picked up this bombshell<\/a><\/span>, Premier Doug Ford began to furiously back-pedal, claiming what had been <em>recorded<\/em> was not accurate. But this was not the first declaration of Ford\u2019s <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a class=\"text-block__link\" style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/toronto\/covid-19-ontario-fall-pandemic-plan-draft-copy-1.5736538\">intention to privatize public hospital services<\/a><\/span> \u2014 his <a class=\"text-block__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ontario.ca\/page\/keeping-ontarians-safe-preparing-future-waves-covid-19\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">COVID response plan<\/span><\/a> had also announced that \u201cinnovative channels,\u201d including \u201calternate health facilities,\u201d would deliver additional surgeries and diagnostic services.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">Again, words matter. What the plan said: Innovative channels and alternative health facilities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">What it means: For-profit clinics and hospitals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">All these euphemisms suggest the premier is finding it difficult to claim the private sector does things better, possibly because it <a class=\"text-block__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/radio\/sunday\/the-sunday-edition-for-january-19-2020-1.5428311\/linda-mcquaig-on-how-privatization-is-impoverishing-the-public-in-canada-1.5429224\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">virtually never does<\/span>.<\/a> During COVID, many Ontarians watched in horror as deaths in for-profit long-term-care homes rose to <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a class=\"text-block__link\" style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/business\/2021\/02\/26\/for-profit-nursing-homes-say-ownership-has-nothing-to-do-with-their-higher-covid-19-death-rates-a-star-analysis-finds-thats-not-the-case.html?rf\">five times those in publicly owned homes<\/a><\/span> \u2014 while company CEOs and shareholders profited.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">Ford is positioning himself as Ontario\u2019s rescuer, claiming to expand private hospitals \u2014 whoops,<em> alternate health facilities<\/em> \u2014 to clear backlogs, employing the popular<span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"> <a class=\"text-block__link\" style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.policynote.ca\/the-evidence-on-wait-times-and-private-care\/\">fiction that private health care reduces wait times<\/a><\/span>. Let\u2019s be clear: private health care does not reduce wait times. And the backlogs themselves arose from the <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a class=\"text-block__link\" style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/rabble.ca\/health\/ford-ramping-up-privatization-of-ontario-health-care-system\/\">relentless downsizing of public hospitals<\/a><\/span>: closures of <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a class=\"text-block__link\" style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.auditor.on.ca\/en\/content\/annualreports\/arreports\/en16\/v1_308en16.pdf\">operating rooms<\/a><\/span> and staff shortages, including Ford\u2019s <a class=\"text-block__link\" href=\"https:\/\/toronto.ctvnews.ca\/over-300-ontario-physicians-sign-open-letter-to-ford-demanding-pay-increases-for-nurses-1.5566494\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">appalling treatment of nurses<\/span><\/a>, leading to an exodus from the profession.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">Ford\u2019s privatization agenda follows the <a class=\"text-block__link\" href=\"https:\/\/genius.com\/Noam-chomsky-the-state-corporate-complex-a-threat-to-freedom-and-survival-annotated\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">standard playbook<\/span><\/a>: Defund. Disable. Destroy. Once resource-starved public services no longer work well, respond to public anger \u2014 then <em>transfer ownership to private capital<\/em>. Per capita, Ontario now has the <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a class=\"text-block__link\" style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/rabble.ca\/health\/ford-ramping-up-privatization-of-ontario-health-care-system\/\">lowest<\/a><\/span> health care and hospital funding, and the fewest hospital beds and nurses, of any province. Yet <a class=\"text-block__link\" href=\"https:\/\/rabble.ca\/health\/ford-ramping-up-privatization-of-ontario-health-care-system\/\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">provincial revenues are $19.5 billion higher than estimated a year ago<\/span><\/a>, providing plenty to spend on public services, if the will were there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">Worse, private hospitals come with another price tag: poor care and higher rates of death. Unsurprisingly, Ford is reluctant openly to state: \u201cIn private hospitals, more of you will die.\u201d But an <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a class=\"text-block__link\" style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cmaj.ca\/content\/166\/11\/1399\">analysis<\/a> <\/span>of over 26,000 hospitals and 38 million patients found that, compared to not-for-profit hospitals, care in private hospitals <em>carries a significantly increased risk of death<\/em>. This is also true for private <a class=\"text-block__link\" href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/33323016\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">for-profit hemodialysis clinics<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">In both settings, profits trump standards of care. Private hospitals employ fewer skilled personnel, a practice strongly associated with hospital mortality. Private hemodialysis clinics hire technicians over nurses, use (and often reuse) single-use equipment, and profit by <a class=\"text-block__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1995\/12\/04\/us\/death-and-deficiency-in-kidney-treatment.html\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">shortening dialysis times<\/span><\/a>, <a class=\"text-block__link\" href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/20090666\/\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">associated with higher mortality<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">Think this couldn\u2019t happen in Canada? At private Ontario <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a class=\"text-block__link\" style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/life\/health_wellness\/2014\/09\/20\/public_not_told_of_infection_outbreak_at_private_toronto_pain_clinic.html?rf\">pain<\/a> <\/span>and <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a class=\"text-block__link\" style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/life\/health_wellness\/2014\/09\/27\/hepatitis_c_outbreaks_at_three_toronto_colonoscopy_clinics_kept_secret.html?rf\">colonoscopy<\/a> <\/span>clinics, many <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a class=\"text-block__link\" style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/life\/health_wellness\/2014\/11\/02\/safety_inspections_find_13_of_private_clinics_dont_meet_provincial_standards.html?rf\">failing safety standards<\/a><\/span> and a <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a class=\"text-block__link\" style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/news\/queenspark\/2014\/11\/03\/critics_say_ontario_expanding_too_quickly_into_risky_private_clinics.html\">series<\/a> <\/span>of medical and surgical disasters \u2014 including life-threatening, permanent complications \u2014 went unreported for years before exposure by the Toronto Star.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">Meanwhile, Ford is <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a class=\"text-block__link\" style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/opinion\/contributors\/2022\/01\/04\/doug-fords-new-long-term-care-legislation-bill-37-tolls-for-all-of-us.html?rf\">quietly privatizing over 18,000 long-term-care beds<\/a><\/span> and <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a class=\"text-block__link\" style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rankandfile.ca\/ford-government-moving-ahead-with-home-care-privatization-bill\/\">home care<\/a><\/span>. In the midst of a pandemic, he privatized <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a class=\"text-block__link\" style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/toronto.ctvnews.ca\/ndp-calls-on-elections-ontario-to-investigate-ford-government-contract-with-private-health-care-company-1.5756909\">vaccines<\/a><\/span> and <a class=\"text-block__link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/ford-ramping-up-privatization-of-ontario-health-care-system\/\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">COVID testing<\/span><\/a>. On the cusp of an election, he may play down plans for privatizing hospitals. But it is his record, not his words, that is important.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">And speaking once more of words, Ford likes to campaign on the slogan \u201cFor the People.\u201d But the People deserve the indisputable evidence: For-profit hospitals and clinics translate as worse health outcomes, increased suffering and avoidable deaths \u2014 and benefit only the wealthy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\">In this election, \u201cFor some of the people, but not for you\u201d are the words that matter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-block-container\"><em><a class=\"text-block__link\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DrNancyOlivieri\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">Dr. Nancy Olivieri<\/span><\/a> is a physician and professor at the University of Toronto. <span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a class=\"text-block__link\" style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HurleyOCHUCUPE\">Michael Hurley<\/a><\/span> is president, Ontario Council of Hospital Unions and a member of CUPE\u2019s National Executive Board. Natalie Mehra is executive director, <a class=\"text-block__link\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ontariohealthc\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\">Ontario Health Coalition<\/span><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/opinion\/contributors\/2022\/03\/15\/doug-fords-government-is-quietly-privatizing-health-care.html\">Click here for original article<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(March 15, 2022) By: Nancy Olivieri, Michael Hurley, Natalie Mehra Words matter. Recently, Health Minister Christine Elliott announced the expansion of private hospitals in Ontario. Missed this? So did many of us, possibly because of the words she selected: \u201cwe can let independent health facilities operate private hospitals.\u201d That offhand reference to \u201cindependent health facilities\u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,14,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-long-term-care-chronic-care","category-ohc-in-the-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>OP-ED:  Doug Ford\u2019s government is quietly privatizing health care - Ontario Health Coalition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(March 15, 2022) By: Nancy Olivieri, Michael Hurley, Natalie Mehra Words matter. Recently, Health Minister Christine Elliott announced the expansion of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/op-ed-doug-fords-government-is-quietly-privatizing-health-care\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"OP-ED:  Doug Ford\u2019s government is quietly privatizing health care - Ontario Health Coalition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(March 15, 2022) By: Nancy Olivieri, Michael Hurley, Natalie Mehra Words matter. 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