(September 25 2023)<\/p>\n
By: Samantha Lawson, CHCH News<\/p>\n
As members of the provincial parliament returned to Queen\u2019s Park, several thousand people gathered on the lawns outside.<\/p>\n
They say there\u2019s a healthcare crisis in this province, and they\u2019re calling on Premier Doug Ford to fix it.<\/p>\n
And advocates say the first step is reversing the government\u2019s push for privatization.<\/p>\n
Around 80 buses brought in several thousand people from right across the province to the rally on the lawns in front of Queen\u2019s Park.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the Ford government passed a bill allowing private, for-profit clinics to perform minor procedures like cataract surgeries, MRI and CT scans.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s part of the Ford government\u2019s pledge to reduce provincial surgical backlogs.<\/p>\n
Ontarians can use their health card to access the service, but advocates are concerned it will divert staff and government money away from the public system which is already understaffed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have enough nurses, enough doctors, PSWs, it is a human resource issue,\u201d Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving said that, instead of putting more resources into our operating rooms, into our hospitals, into our community clinics, this government has chosen to put it in the pockets of shareholders. That\u2019s precious dollars that need to be in healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n
And the concern also spreads to local areas in the Golden Horseshoe.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see the wait times, we see people struggling. We know that people can\u2019t afford to pay extra for what they need in the healthcare system,\u201d NDP MPP for Hamilton Mountain, Monique Taylor said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all work in hospitals, we see the issues that are happening. we see services leaving the hospital,\u201d St. Joseph\u2019s healthcare worker, Kevin Cook said.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Niagara Health announced urgent care centres in Port Colborne and Fort Erie would permanently shorten their hours to close overnight in order to redeploy staff across the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere shouldn\u2019t be one hospital service closure in Niagara, in Hamilton, across Ontario. There\u2019s no surplus capacity. So the fact that we\u2019re seeing cuts to public hospitals, these massive, major closures like emergency departments \u2014 what could be more of an emergency than seeing 500 emergency departments close in Ontario?\u201d Natalie Mehra from the Ontario Health Coalition said.<\/p>\n
The opposition says they\u2019ll continue to bring the topic up in question period.<\/p>\n