(November 14, 2025) By: Julia Lucio, The SDG & A Cornwall Seeker<\/p>\n
Today, the Cornwall chapter of the Ontario Health Coalition hosted an event at the Cornwall Public Library. For the occasion, they brought in three heavy hitters: Natalie Mehra<\/strong>, Executive Director of the OHC, Dr. Allyson Pollock<\/strong>, a leading expert on health policy, and Michael Hurley<\/strong>, long-time advocate for public healthcare. These are not alarmists. These are people who have tracked privatization across countries and decades, and they are warning that Ontario is repeating the worst mistakes seen elsewhere.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat they want to do is take out the profitable parts of hospital services,\u201d Mehra told the crowd. \u201cThe fast-track, easy elective surgeries that the private sector wants because they are high-volume and make a lot of money.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This includes cataracts, hips, knees, and potentially MRIs, endoscopies, and other procedures that private investors see as high-profit opportunities.<\/p>\n What England Already Lived Through and Why It Matters Here<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr. Pollock drew on twenty years of research into England\u2019s shift toward private clinics. The results were not encouraging. When England began diverting public funds into private surgical centres, the promise was shorter wait times and more capacity. What actually happened was the opposite.<\/p>\n Pollock delivered it plainly.<\/p>\n \u201cPublic provision has fallen. Poorer patients are waiting longer in the public sector while the rich are getting into private clinics first,\u201d she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n When complications happened, private clinics transferred patients back to public hospitals, which pushed everyone else further down the list.<\/p>\n Ontario Is Doing the Same Thing and It Is Moving Faster<\/strong><\/p>\n Mehra outlined how quickly Ontario is following the same track. Under the Ford government:<\/p>\n Complex patients remain in the public system, but the public system no longer has the capacity it once had. This is not an expansion of healthcare. It is a removal of resources from hospitals that communities spent decades building.<\/p>\n Cornwall Is Already Feeling the Impact<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the most striking moments came when Mehra described a phone audit conducted at Cornwall\u2019s only private eye clinic.<\/p>\n When callers asked about cataract surgery, the clinic reportedly quoted prices ranging from $2,000 to $12,000 per eye<\/strong>, even though cataract surgery is fully covered under OHIP.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is expressly against our public Medicare laws,\u201d Mehra explained. \u201cYou cannot require payment for medically unnecessary services in order to access medically necessary surgery.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The clinic also told callers that private-pay patients could receive surgery within one or two weeks, while those who used the hospital would wait much longer.<\/p>\n However, when the Coalition checked the official provincial wait-time database, Cornwall\u2019s hospital wait was significantly shorter than what the clinic claimed. Several residents in the room said they had been given similar information.<\/p>\n A System That Is Making People Desperate<\/strong><\/p>\n Audience members shared concerns that reflected a system no longer functioning as it should. One resident described a friend with recurring cancer who has been waiting months for a PET scan and still does not have a clear timeline or update.<\/p>\n Another resident questioned whether Ontario has any mechanism to help regular people navigate waitlists, advocate for themselves, or get answers without being left on their own.<\/p>\n Elaine MacDonald, co-chair of the local coalition, expressed the frustration many were feeling.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a real catch-22. A person is offering the only service in town and they get away with this behaviour,\u201d she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The comment resonated with the room.<\/p>\n\n
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