{"id":3883,"date":"2016-02-01T15:06:35","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T20:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?p=3883"},"modified":"2021-07-21T16:34:44","modified_gmt":"2021-07-21T20:34:44","slug":"release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\/","title":{"rendered":"<FONT COLOR=\"#E00000\">RELEASE: <\/FONT> Patients, Concerned Citizens and Workers Rally Outside Pre-Budget Hearings to Stop Devastating Hospital Cuts, Privatization"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>(February 1, 2016)<\/p>\n<p>As MPPs from all three political parties\u00a0from the Ontario Legislature traveled to Toronto for pre-budget hearings today, they were met with protests by patients, concerned residents and health care workers.\u00a0 The message was clear: stop the devastating cuts to \u2013 and privatization of \u2013 local hospitals across Ontario.\u00a0 The Ontario Legislature\u2019s Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs has heard from community advocates who have made submissions to budget hearings for almost a decade warning that the cuts are harming patients. But the government is refusing to listen. This year, local health coalitions across Ontario are staging protests outside the hearings to stop the cuts, in partnership with the Ontario Federation of Labour.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNine consecutive years of real-dollar cuts have plunged Ontario into the bottom of the country in hospital funding. Patients are being left on stretchers in hallways, surgeries are being cancelled and vital health services are being privatized, subject to user fees, or moved out of town,\u201d said Natalie Mehra, Executive Director of the Ontario Health Coalition. \u201cIt is beyond time that these devastating hospital cuts and the privatization of hospital services be stopped. The Ontario government must restore our public hospital funding to at least the average of all the other provinces in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This is true of Toronto\u2019s hospitals, a number of which are running at over 100% capacity. Hospitals are thrown into \u201ccode gridlock\u201d when all the beds are full. Emergency departments overflow, and patients are left on stretchers in hallways, waiting for beds, sometimes for days. Patients are discharged too frail and end up back in emergency departments. Private clinics, like the Kensington Eye Institute, have sprung up, and these clinics are charging patients out-of-pocket user fees, undermining public Medicare.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur hospitals are packed full, they are running beyond full capacity yet more cuts are being anticipated for the upcoming year,\u201d said Carolyn Egan, co-chair of the Toronto Health Coalition. \u201cThe patients are the ones that pay the price when staff and services are slashed and ultimately privatized. The current government\u2019s austerity measures are meant to cut costs, with absolutely no regard for patient needs. It is inevitable that the cuts will harm patients and reduce patient care.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHere in Toronto, we are seeing the effects of austerity in every community. Hospital cuts, hydro privatization, mounting student debt, precarious jobs and Canada\u2019s lowest social program funding are taking their toll in every neighbourhood,\u201d said Chris Buckley, President of the Ontario Federation of Labour. \u201cOntarians are calling on the Wynne Government to abandon her austerity agenda and lay out a plan for restoring public services, growing our economy, expanding Ontario\u2019s revenue base and lifting standards for everyone. The next Ontario budget shouldn\u2019t be constrained by government cuts, it should create an Ontario in which everyone prospers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>For more information:<\/strong> Natalie Mehra, Executive Director, Ontario Health Coalition 416-441-2502 (office).<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><a style=\"color: #3366ff;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/Toronto-pre-budget-rally-release.pdf\">Click here for printable version<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(February 1, 2016) As MPPs from all three political parties\u00a0from the Ontario Legislature traveled to Toronto for pre-budget hearings today, they were met with protests by patients, concerned residents and health care workers.\u00a0 The message was clear: stop the devastating cuts to \u2013 and privatization of \u2013 local hospitals across Ontario.\u00a0 The Ontario Legislature\u2019s Standing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,90,16,11,99,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cuts-restructuring","category-cutsrestructuring-media-releases","category-hospitals","category-ontario-budgets","category-ontario-budgets-media-releases","category-whats-new"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>RELEASE:  Patients, Concerned Citizens and Workers Rally Outside Pre-Budget Hearings to Stop Devastating Hospital Cuts, Privatization - Ontario Health Coalition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(February 1, 2016) As MPPs from all three political parties\u00a0from the Ontario Legislature traveled to Toronto for pre-budget hearings today, they were met\" \/>\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\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"RELEASE:  Patients, Concerned Citizens and Workers Rally Outside Pre-Budget Hearings to Stop Devastating Hospital Cuts, Privatization - Ontario Health Coalition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(February 1, 2016) As MPPs from all three political parties\u00a0from the Ontario Legislature traveled to Toronto for pre-budget hearings today, they were met\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\/\" \/>\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=\"2016-02-01T20:06:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-21T20:34:44+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=\"2 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\\\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3bee6583f445dde27b35a7bba61b06b4\"},\"headline\":\"RELEASE: Patients, Concerned Citizens and Workers Rally Outside Pre-Budget Hearings to Stop Devastating Hospital Cuts, Privatization\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-01T20:06:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-21T20:34:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":507,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Cuts + Restructuring\",\"Cuts+Restructuring Media Releases\",\"Hospitals\",\"Ontario Budgets\",\"Ontario Budgets Media Releases\",\"What's New\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\\\/\",\"name\":\"RELEASE: Patients, Concerned Citizens and Workers Rally Outside Pre-Budget Hearings to Stop Devastating Hospital Cuts, Privatization - Ontario Health Coalition\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-01T20:06:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-21T20:34:44+00:00\",\"description\":\"(February 1, 2016) As MPPs from all three political parties\u00a0from the Ontario Legislature traveled to Toronto for pre-budget hearings today, they were met\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"RELEASE: Patients, Concerned Citizens and Workers Rally Outside Pre-Budget Hearings to Stop Devastating Hospital Cuts, Privatization\"}]},{\"@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":"RELEASE:  Patients, Concerned Citizens and Workers Rally Outside Pre-Budget Hearings to Stop Devastating Hospital Cuts, Privatization - Ontario Health Coalition","description":"(February 1, 2016) As MPPs from all three political parties\u00a0from the Ontario Legislature traveled to Toronto for pre-budget hearings today, they were met","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\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"RELEASE:  Patients, Concerned Citizens and Workers Rally Outside Pre-Budget Hearings to Stop Devastating Hospital Cuts, Privatization - Ontario Health Coalition","og_description":"(February 1, 2016) As MPPs from all three political parties\u00a0from the Ontario Legislature traveled to Toronto for pre-budget hearings today, they were met","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\/","og_site_name":"Ontario Health Coalition","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ontariohealth?fref=ts","article_published_time":"2016-02-01T20:06:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-07-21T20:34:44+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/3bee6583f445dde27b35a7bba61b06b4"},"headline":"RELEASE: Patients, Concerned Citizens and Workers Rally Outside Pre-Budget Hearings to Stop Devastating Hospital Cuts, Privatization","datePublished":"2016-02-01T20:06:35+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-21T20:34:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\/"},"wordCount":507,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Cuts + Restructuring","Cuts+Restructuring Media Releases","Hospitals","Ontario Budgets","Ontario Budgets Media Releases","What's New"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\/","name":"RELEASE: Patients, Concerned Citizens and Workers Rally Outside Pre-Budget Hearings to Stop Devastating Hospital Cuts, Privatization - Ontario Health Coalition","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-02-01T20:06:35+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-21T20:34:44+00:00","description":"(February 1, 2016) As MPPs from all three political parties\u00a0from the Ontario Legislature traveled to Toronto for pre-budget hearings today, they were met","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/release-patients-concerned-citizens-and-workers-rally-outside-pre-budget-hearings-to-stop-devastating-hospital-cuts-privatization\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"RELEASE: Patients, Concerned Citizens and Workers Rally Outside Pre-Budget Hearings to Stop Devastating Hospital Cuts, Privatization"}]},{"@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\/3883","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=3883"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3883\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11568,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3883\/revisions\/11568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}