{"id":31106,"date":"2025-11-28T16:52:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T21:52:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?p=31106"},"modified":"2025-12-15T17:01:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T22:01:31","slug":"opinion-alberta-is-turning-public-hospitals-into-private-businesses-will-ontario-follow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/opinion-alberta-is-turning-public-hospitals-into-private-businesses-will-ontario-follow\/","title":{"rendered":"Alberta is turning public hospitals into private businesses. Will Ontario follow?"},"content":{"rendered":"

(November 27, 2025)\u00a0By: Iris Gorfinkel, Toronto Star<\/p>\n

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Ontarians need to be on high alert. Alberta has taken a major step toward privatizing health care.\u00a0Bill 55<\/a><\/span>\u00a0will allow surgeons to work in both public hospitals and private\u2011pay clinics. Under this dual-practice model, cataract surgeries and joint replacements done during business hours would be covered by the province, while the same procedures in evenings or on weekends could be sold to patients for out-of-pocket fees.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Alberta would also let investor\u2011run corporations operate public hospitals \u2014 turning them into profit centres and throwing the doors open to a two\u2011tier system. It\u2019s framed as \u201cchoice, efficiency and innovation,\u201d but it effectively turns patient wait-lists into a customer list, targeting those who can pay with shorter waits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This sets a concerning precedent. Ontario doesn\u2019t have a Bill 55 by name, but a version of this is already taking shape through expanding for\u2011profit clinics and extra fees. We\u2019re promised \u201cyou\u2019ll show your OHIP card, not your credit card\u201d \u2014 there\u2019s nothing to fear. But Ontario\u2019s reality shows how quickly a publicly funded procedure can turn into a profit-generating business once regulation allows it.<\/p>\n

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Privately run centres in Ontario perform cataract operations, orthopedic surgeries and imaging, such as MRIs and CT scans. These are funded through the provincial plan, but independent investigations have documented patients being charged thousands of dollars in extra fees for services that should have been covered.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Ontario Health Coalition\u2019s report<\/span><\/a><\/span>, \u201cUnder the Skin\u201d details clinics billing seniors for premium lenses, administrative fees and mandatory \u201cconsultation packages.\u201d Many vulnerable patients didn\u2019t realize those fees were illegal or that the basic surgery was already covered by OHIP under both the Canada Health Act and Ontario law.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Proponents argue that for\u2011profit centres are harmless because core services on offer remain publicly funded. But the dividing line between \u201cpublic\u201d and \u201cprivate\u201d quickly blurs when providers make more income from those who pay. In practice, this means promoting upgrades, upselling services and steering patients toward paid options, whether or not they\u2019re medically needed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ontarians who can afford it buy their way to faster care, while patients living paycheque to paycheque are left with even longer wait times as the public system is drained of staff by higher-paid private work. This is gradually shifting Ontario away from universal, equitable care toward a system where health justice hinges on income.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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International experience with privatization sends a stark warning.\u00a0A recent comparison of 25 wealthy countries<\/a><\/span>\u00a0by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives found that countries that rely more heavily on private health care tend to suffer more preventable illnesses and die sooner. Maternal and infant mortality rates also rise when countries are more reliant on for-profit health systems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In contrast, countries with strong public systems \u2014 like Sweden, Norway and Denmark \u2014 live longer, have fewer preventable diseases, and suffer less maternal and infant deaths. The global record is blunt: When countries choose more privatization, they choose shorter, sicker lives.<\/p>\n

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Canada\u2019s Health Act stands at a fork in the road. One path diverts resources to for\u2011profit clinics, normalizes extra fees and enables investor\u2011run facilities to put revenue over the public\u2019s health.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The other path invests in health care workers, expands public operating rooms, funds team-based care and rewards family doctors offering comprehensive primary care.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The second path is worth defending, and it demands enforcing existing laws against extra-billing and consequences for clinics that break them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said, \u201cHealth care shouldn\u2019t be about blind and outdated ideologies or politics.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Let\u2019s hope she wasn\u2019t referring to universal public health care. What happens in Alberta doesn\u2019t stay in Alberta. Every dollar \u201cinvested\u201d into for\u2011profit clinics drains the public system. When profits are prioritized over health, it results in more preventable illnesses and shorter lives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Alberta sets a dangerous precedent for Ontario, tying timely care to a person\u2019s bank balance and ignoring a fundamental truth: Privatization leaves the sickest and poorest behind, while those who can pay leapfrog to the front of the line.<\/p>\n

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

(November 27, 2025)\u00a0By: Iris Gorfinkel, Toronto Star Ontarians need to be on high alert. Alberta has taken a major step toward privatizing health care.\u00a0Bill 55\u00a0will allow surgeons to work in both public hospitals and private\u2011pay clinics. Under this dual-practice model, cataract surgeries and joint replacements done during business hours would be covered by the province, […]<\/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-31106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ohc-in-the-news"],"yoast_head":"\nAlberta is turning public hospitals into private businesses. Will Ontario follow? - Ontario Health Coalition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(November 27, 2025)\u00a0By: Iris Gorfinkel, Toronto Star Ontarians need to be on high alert. 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