In addition, the Coalition reports the Ford government has:
- Imposed real dollar cuts on public hospitals, pushing them into service closures and deficits, while funding for-profit hospitals and clinics with increases up to and over 300%. Ontario funds its public hospitals at the lowest rate of all provinces.
- Funded private for-profit hospitals at double the rate per surgery than it funds public hospitals.
- Funded private for-profit ophthalmology clinics across Ontario at 21% - 56% more for each cataract surgery.
- Refused to take action on the for-profit staffing agencies that are charging up to three times more than public hospitals for staff, having escalated their prices by more than 70% since Ford took office, while imposing wage caps and real dollar cuts on staff in public hospitals.
- Chronically underspent the health care budget, shunting billions to contingency fund and budget surplus, while leaving hospitals in unprecedented crisis.
“Hundreds of millions of dollars in public money is being used to dismantle and privatize our public hospitals, robbing the public to build the private,” said Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition.
I hope some rigorous investigation will make a difference. It really feels like this should be criminal, or a violation of the province’s obligation to the federal government to implement health care.
Remember when Ford complained the Feds weren’t giving enough healthcare transfer so they put up but had a clause saying it had to be used for public care and Ford refused it?