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<\/p>\nApril 1, 2019 | Last Updated: April 1, 2019 10:49 PM EDT<\/p>\n
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Sault Ste. Marie Health Coalition will hold a town hall meeting on Friday, April 5 as part of a province-wide campaign to educate the public about the Ontario government\u2019s plan to restructure the provincial healthcare system and create a new \u201csuper agency\u201d.
\nThe Ontario Health Coalition has assisted the meeting, along with more than 20 other town halls across Ontario. Marie Dellavedova, a member of the local branch of the Health Coalition said announcement of Bill 74, the new health care bill, has prompted members in the Sault to take action though the branch has been dormant for the last year.
\n\u201cWe are having a town hall meeting here in Sault Ste. Marie because our community has a right to know what this legislation will do to our local public health care services,\u201d Dellavedova told Sault This Week.
\n\u201cThe new law gives the government unfettered powers to order costly mega-mergers, transfers and closures of health care services, including hospitals, long-term care homes, home care, community care, mental health and addictions services, community health centres and nonprofit family health teams, etc.,\u201d said Dellavedova.
\n\u201cThe Super Agency can sell vital health care services to private for-profit corporations.\u201d
\nSpeakers, including Ontario Health Coalition executive director Natalie Mehra, will be at the town hall to explain the legislation and the plans for restructuring the system, including the impacts they will have on the province\u2019s health care system. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and share their concerns, and Mehra will lead a discussion about what the public can do in response to the bill.
\nDellavedova said all concerned residents are invited.
\n\u201cThe Ford government drafted this legislation in secret,\u201d she said. \u201cThis town hall meeting may be the only opportunity for the public to find out what this legislation actually holds in store for us before it becomes law.\u201d
\nThe goal is that those who attend the meeting will leave with a good understanding of the impact the legislation will have on their health care and that of their loved ones. \u201cThey will be able to discuss and decide what we, as members of the public, can do to protect our local public health care services. Those in attendance will have the opportunity to plan a course of action to follow in order to protect local health care,\u201d said Dellavedova.
\nThe government has limited public hearings to only two part days, being held only in Toronto, and provided only two days\u2019 notice.
\nBill 74 \u201cis the most dangerous health care legislation in terms of privatization and risks to local services we have ever read, and it has the fewest public protections ever,\u201d says the Ontario Health Coalition in its notice to members about the hearings.
\nThe legislation provides for no public access to documentation, no right to appeals, no requirements that providers measure and make plans to meet population needs for health care, no protection for local health services and it makes no effort to ensure patients have access to health care, Dellavedova said in reference to those issues.
\nAdditionally, it provides no protections for the workers who will be impacted by the upheaval of the health care system.
\nThe many town halls across the province will culminate in a massive rally at Queen\u2019s Park planned for Tuesday, April 30 at noon.
\nSault Ste. Marie Health Coalition has been involved in several campaigns to improve or save local health care by such actions as rallies, town hall meetings, pre-budget presentations, and referenda.
\nThe local coalition and the OHC played a role in keeping Matthews Memorial Hospital open, Dellavedova said. Despite the local group\u2019s recent inactivity, she and other members hope the current changes to the health care system will encourage more members of the community to get involved in rebuilding the local coalition.
\nThe local town hall will be held on Friday, April 5 at 7 p.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion.<\/p>\n