(September 16, 2026) By: Jacob Henriksen-Willis, YourSunsetCountry.ca<\/p>\n
A new report from the Ontario Health Coalition is criticizing the Ford government\u2019s expansion of privately delivered health services, arguing the province should be investing more heavily in public hospitals instead.<\/p>\n
According to the coalition, the province has recently committed $155 million to expand private MRI, CT and endoscopy clinics, along with another $125 million for private orthopedic clinics.<\/p>\n
Coalition officials argue many of those private facilities are concentrated in larger urban centres in southern Ontario, while public hospitals across the province, including in northern and rural communities, have equipment and operating rooms that are not being fully utilized.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Ford government claims that wait times are far too long and the answer is opening up private clinics, but there are many underused operating rooms in hospitals around the province,\u201d said Jules Tupker, co-chair of the Thunder Bay District coalition. \u201cThe Ford government has to answer for why it is taking millions in funding away from public hospitals that have facilities sitting there ready to use.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tupker says many clinics operate only from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., leaving operating rooms and equipment unused overnight.<\/p>\n
He argues that investing in extended hours at existing facilities would help reduce surgical backlogs and improve access to care, making it a more effective use of public funds than privatizing health-care services.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe made formal information requests of the hospitals across Ontario and found that the majority of Ontario\u2019s public hospitals have operating rooms that are closed the majority of the time,\u201d said Natalie Mehra, executive director of the health coalition. \u201cWe also found significant unused MRI capacity in every single region \u2013 that is hours that the MRIs are not used to do scans for patients.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe asked the hospitals, if their machines and facilities are not being run full time, why not? They told us that they operate for as many hours as they are funded,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
The report also argues that several privately operated clinics announced by the government have faced delays and are still not fully operational, years after being proposed.<\/p>\n
The OHC warns the Ford government is pushing the health-care system toward what it calls the \u201cAmericanization\u201d of health care, arguing the province intends to privatize as many services as possible.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is all about keeping our Canadian Health Care Act intact, and our health care system public,\u201d said Cheryl McSweeney, VP of Political Action for LiUNA Local 73. \u201cThe more you starve the public system, the more privatization comes in. And I\u2019ll tell you now, it won\u2019t be Canadian owned.\u201d<\/p>\n
The coalition is also raising concerns about what it describes as growing inequalities in access to care, as well as reports of extra billing and user fees at some private clinics.<\/p>\n
The coalition is calling on the province to respond to the findings of its report.<\/p>\n