By Staff
June 28th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
New Democrats issue a statement in response to Premier Ford’s announcement about funding private clinics:
Public money going into private hands instead of our local hospitals.
“The Ford government announced they will funnel $155 million into private clinics every two years. That is public money going into private hands instead of our local hospitals, where help is desperately needed. All of this has been made possible through Bill 60.
“This model of private delivery with public dollars is alarming and unfair. Study after study shows that private clinics benefit the wealthiest, while leaving the rest of us behind.
“Since the Ford government began expanding private cataract surgeries, wait times have only gotten worse. In 2020, 72% of cataract surgeries were performed on time, compared to 66% in 2024. This leaves a significant number of seniors who rely on this procedure for their vision to either pay out of pocket for the health care they need, or much worse, go blind.
“Instead of strengthening our public hospitals and addressing the staffing crisis, this government is handing over our health care system to private companies. Enough is enough. This government received a new mandate to protect Ontario, but what they have been showing Ontarians is that they are willing to choose profits over people, every time.”
“This model of private delivery with public dollars is alarming and unfair. Study after study shows that private clinics benefit the wealthiest, while leaving the rest of us behind”.
I have to disagree with this statement.
In Burlington GI Health has been operating under this model for years and has definitely improved the wait times for those needing gastrointestinal scans and services. The office is located in a medical building away from the hospital and provides a much more relaxed setting.
Medisen which is located on Brant Street in Upper Canada Place offers cardiology services and has been there since 2019. Once again you get to see a cardiologist and some testing is available on site in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere.
One does not have to be rich to access these services. It is your physician or walk in clinic physician who can refer you to these groups instead of the hospital.
Wait times to get some simple CT or MRI scans at the hospital can be onerous.
We need more of these “privately owned public clinics” for the onslaught of seniors that are requiring medical care. Many of these proposed clinics will be using available space in their existing buildings and have the necessary staff to man them.
These services would be available now, not years down the road waiting for the additional physicians, technicians that would have to be hired by the hospital to do the job.
I know for a fact that GI Health has appointments on Saturdays.
Perhaps Joseph Brant Hospital should be offering outpatient clinics on Saturday and Sunday and after 4PM to alleviate the wait times.