(November 9, 2019)<\/p>\n
By: Albert Delitala,\u00a0Global News<\/span><\/p>\n Hundreds of people ranging from health professionals to patients gathered in Toronto\u2019s Nathan Phillips Square on Saturday to protest the Ontario government\u2019s approach to\u00a0health care.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce you lose something it\u2019s really hard to get it back, so that\u2019s why we have to fight to save these programs,\u201d said Cathy Crowe, a street nurse in Toronto who spoke at the demonstration.<\/p>\n She said government funding changes to public health directly impact the most vulnerable.<\/p>\n \u201cIt means that we can lose nurses that are working with vulnerable people and in rooming houses, in shelters and drop-ins,\u201d she said.\u201cWe\u2019ve already lost flu shot clinics in that area. This past summer we saw a cancellation of the cooling centre programs.\u201d<\/p>\n The\u00a0Ontario Health Coalition\u00a0advocacy group organized the protest to call on Premier Doug Ford\u2019s government to stop what it refers to as \u201creal-dollar\u201d cuts to public hospitals, as well as plans to eliminate public health units and local ambulance services.<\/p>\n \u201c(Doug Ford) said he was going to end hallway medicine, but there\u2019s no way to end hallway medicine and cut the actual real-dollar funding for hospitals,\u201d executive director of the group Natalie Mehra told Global News.<\/p>\n Toronto city councillor Kristen Wong-Tam said the cuts to Toronto\u2019s public health programs \u2014 which the city has estimated will amount to $14 million annually by 2021 \u2014 will have dire consequences.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not going to stand by while he makes these cuts,\u201d Wong-Tam said.\u201cWe know that these cuts will be harmful. They will make people sick. And at some point in time \u2014 we know this is going to happen \u2014 people are going to die.\u201d<\/p>\n Hayley Chazan, a spokesperson for Ontario health minister Christine Elliott, wrote in an email to Global News that the government intends to deliver \u201cpublic health in a way that is more resilient, nimble and meets the evolving needs of our community.\u201d<\/p>\n She continued, \u201cWe also want to create better and deeper relationships between public heath, primary care and the broader health-care system to support our goal of ending hallway health care through improved health promotion.\u201d<\/p>\n Mehra said her group won\u2019t be satisfied until all cuts are reversed.<\/p>\n \u201cThere ought to be a choice, which is no cuts whatsoever,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n