{"id":28605,"date":"2023-04-28T13:40:09","date_gmt":"2023-04-28T17:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?p=28605"},"modified":"2023-05-24T13:42:05","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24T17:42:05","slug":"new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\/","title":{"rendered":"New coalition advocating for public hospitals in Renfrew county:"},"content":{"rendered":"

(April 27, 2023)<\/p>\n

By: Derek Dunn, Arnprior Chronicle-Guide<\/p>\n

Ford government continues to privatize services; MPP remains silent<\/p>\n

The Ford government\u2019s significant privatization of Ontario hospital services at some locations has prompted the creation of a new organization in Renfrew county, and it wants citizen input on a \u201creferendum.\u201d<\/p>\n

The PC plan to use specialized private clinics to reduce wait times for hip and knee replacements, cataract surgeries, colonoscopies, MRIs and CT scans follows from the move, in recent years, to have for-profit companies offer diagnostic labs, long-term care facilities and home-care services.<\/p>\n

MPP John Yakabuski didn\u2019t respond to a question about the likelihood of private hospitals in the county. The Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke MPP didn\u2019t respond to a request for an interview on the creation of the local coalition and its claim that his PC government is rushing legislation without proper input from the public.<\/p>\n

Critics say the government is using its majority to starve the public sector of funding, thus creating a problem for the private sector to solve. Some nurses, who say they are overworked and underpaid, are morphing to private contractors<\/a> for work. Some operating rooms in Ontario, including all in Renfrew county, are open only half days due to lack of funding.<\/p>\n

It has sparked a level of seriousness and urgency that had Leona Haley and others form the Renfrew County Health Coalition, a chapter of the Ontario Health Coalition. The non-profit and non-partisan organization has created a \u201ccommunity-run referendum<\/a>\u201d for May 26 and 27. \u201cThis is too important of an issue to leave up to the rest of Ontario,\u201d Haley said. \u201cRenfrew county residents need to become involved. The referendum will have voting booths (in public locations) and online. We can\u2019t leave it up to residents in other parts of the province to decide.\u201d<\/p>\n

While she doesn\u2019t see parts of Renfrew county hospitals privatized any time soon \u2014 as has happened in Ottawa \u2014 Haley said many people feel private clinics are inevitable. Some are concerned Premier Doug Ford could follow in former premier Mike Harris\u2019s footsteps of privatizing a section of public health care only to personally profit<\/a> from it after leaving office. Harris is the former chair of Chartwell Retirement Residences, called the largest retirement living private company in Canada. Elderly residents at private long-term care facilities suffered death and hospitalization in higher numbers than those in publicly-funded facilities.<\/p>\n

Metroland emailed questions to Yakabuski, including one asking if Ford or other members of caucus planning to profit after leaving office in areas currently being privatized. \u201cThat is where people get suspicious,\u201d Haley said. \u201cIs he (Ford) doing it for his own gain?\u201d<\/p>\n

Haley wants co-operation, not confrontation, with the local MPP. She said defending the Canada Health Act should be non-partisan. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to make this a political fight. We want to work with Yakabuski and (MP Cheryl) Gallant and their people to keep public health care,\u201d she said. \u201cPrivate is not better, cheaper, safer or speeds up services; that has been well documented. I don\u2019t understand why we are moving toward it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Ed Cashman with the Ottawa chapter of the coalition, is revealing the results of a Freedom of Information request made of the Ford government. He says the results show there is capacity at hospitals in Renfrew and Arnprior to accept Ottawa patients who are now travelling to a private clinic in Quebec. Operating rooms could be open more than half-days to help deal with wait times if only the Ford government provided funding, he added. \u201cAt a time when patients in Ottawa are travelling to a private clinic in Montreal for surgery, there is capacity in the three hospitals in Renfrew county,\u201d Cashman said. \u201cRVH (Renfrew Victoria Hospital) should be commended for stepping in to assist with the regional backlog of surgeries, especially at a time that they are short one surgeon in the OR.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click here for original article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(April 27, 2023) By: Derek Dunn, Arnprior Chronicle-Guide Ford government continues to privatize services; MPP remains silent The Ford government\u2019s significant privatization of Ontario hospital services at some locations has prompted the creation of a new organization in Renfrew county, and it wants citizen input on a \u201creferendum.\u201d The PC plan to use specialized private […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ohc-in-the-news"],"yoast_head":"\nNew coalition advocating for public hospitals in Renfrew county: - Ontario Health Coalition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(April 27, 2023) By: Derek Dunn, Arnprior Chronicle-Guide Ford government continues to privatize services; MPP remains silent The Ford government\u2019s\" \/>\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\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New coalition advocating for public hospitals in Renfrew county: - Ontario Health Coalition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(April 27, 2023) By: Derek Dunn, Arnprior Chronicle-Guide Ford government continues to privatize services; MPP remains silent The Ford government\u2019s\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ontario Health Coalition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ontariohealth?fref=ts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-28T17:40:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-24T17:42:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3bee6583f445dde27b35a7bba61b06b4\"},\"headline\":\"New coalition advocating for public hospitals in Renfrew county:\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-28T17:40:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-24T17:42:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":661,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"OHC in the News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\\\/\",\"name\":\"New coalition advocating for public hospitals in Renfrew county: - Ontario Health Coalition\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-28T17:40:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-24T17:42:05+00:00\",\"description\":\"(April 27, 2023) By: Derek Dunn, Arnprior Chronicle-Guide Ford government continues to privatize services; MPP remains silent The Ford government\u2019s\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New coalition advocating for public hospitals in Renfrew county:\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ontario Health Coalition\",\"description\":\"Our primary goal is to protect and improve our public health care system\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Ontario Health Coalition\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/logo_ohc_new-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/logo_ohc_new-1.png\",\"width\":478,\"height\":240,\"caption\":\"Ontario Health Coalition\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ontariohealth?fref=ts\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/OntarioHealthC\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/ontariohealthcoalition\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tiktok.com\\\/@ontariohealthc\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCPy4Erf4xGLZV6CY23xdokw\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3bee6583f445dde27b35a7bba61b06b4\",\"name\":\"admin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New coalition advocating for public hospitals in Renfrew county: - Ontario Health Coalition","description":"(April 27, 2023) By: Derek Dunn, Arnprior Chronicle-Guide Ford government continues to privatize services; MPP remains silent The Ford government\u2019s","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New coalition advocating for public hospitals in Renfrew county: - Ontario Health Coalition","og_description":"(April 27, 2023) By: Derek Dunn, Arnprior Chronicle-Guide Ford government continues to privatize services; MPP remains silent The Ford government\u2019s","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\/","og_site_name":"Ontario Health Coalition","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ontariohealth?fref=ts","article_published_time":"2023-04-28T17:40:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-05-24T17:42:05+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/3bee6583f445dde27b35a7bba61b06b4"},"headline":"New coalition advocating for public hospitals in Renfrew county:","datePublished":"2023-04-28T17:40:09+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-24T17:42:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\/"},"wordCount":661,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#organization"},"articleSection":["OHC in the News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\/","name":"New coalition advocating for public hospitals in Renfrew county: - Ontario Health Coalition","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-04-28T17:40:09+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-24T17:42:05+00:00","description":"(April 27, 2023) By: Derek Dunn, Arnprior Chronicle-Guide Ford government continues to privatize services; MPP remains silent The Ford government\u2019s","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/new-coalition-advocating-for-public-hospitals-in-renfrew-county\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New coalition advocating for public hospitals in Renfrew county:"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/","name":"Ontario Health Coalition","description":"Our primary goal is to protect and improve our public health care system","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#organization","name":"Ontario Health Coalition","url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/logo_ohc_new-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/logo_ohc_new-1.png","width":478,"height":240,"caption":"Ontario Health Coalition"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ontariohealth?fref=ts","https:\/\/x.com\/OntarioHealthC","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ontariohealthcoalition","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@ontariohealthc","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCPy4Erf4xGLZV6CY23xdokw"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/3bee6583f445dde27b35a7bba61b06b4","name":"admin"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28605"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28606,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28605\/revisions\/28606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}