By Gazette Staff
August 29th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
The Ontario Health Coalition has been fighting the good fight to keep the health service public and not something that drifts into the hands of the private sector.
They have been demonstrating across the province and documenting the number of emergency rooms that are closed and small communities that find they no longer have access to the health services.
They are circulating a petition to collect signatures from people who want to see a stop to the closings that are taking place.
The group continues to tell the story of what is taking place.
Public hospitals’ operating rooms idle while patients wait
Our public hospitals’ operating rooms are closed evenings, weekends– some even permanently. They aren’t given enough funding to run full time, which would reduce waitlists.
Record emergency department closures
Ontario had more than 1,100 emergency department closures last year. Local hospitals, in existence for 100 years, are now at risk of permanent closures. If the Ford government chose, they could restore services by funding & staffing our public hospitals.
Lowest public hospital funding while $ billions shifted to private health care
Ontario funds our public hospitals at the lowest rate of any province. At the same time, the Ford government is redirecting more than a billion dollars per year from our public taxes to fund private for-profit clinics & staffing corporations.
For-profit clinics charge patients $$ thousands in illegal (& unethical) user fees for surgeries & tests
Maureen needed eye surgery for macular degeneration so she wouldn’t lose her vision. A private clinic charged her $7,000. She told us, “Being a senior on a fixed income, I’m still trying to catch up with my bills from the surgery.”
This should NEVER happen. The Ontario government is responsible for enforcing our medicare laws to protect patients like Maureen from extra-billing & user fees. Medically needed surgeries & tests must be covered by OHIP. That’s the law.
Last spring, we made a complaint to the Ford government from 50 patients – including Maureen – who were charged or manipulated into paying for medically unnecessary add ons in private clinics. The patients should be reimbursed & the clinics should be stopped.
We’re making another complaint this fall to push the Ford government to stop them. If you’ve been charged for your surgery, please contact us.
Ontario has downsized our hospitals to an extreme extent.
We are last in Canada & third from the bottom among developed nations.
In 1990, Ontario had 50,000 hospital beds for 10.3 million people. Today, we only have 35,000 for 16.2 million people.
According to data from the OECD, only Chile & Mexico have fewer hospital beds per person than Ontario.
Why? Because everything they cut from public hospitals is privatized.
NOTE: A “hospital bed” means a bed that is funded with nurses, doctors & other staff providing care. When they close down “beds” it means they cut staff & the care they provide. Patients are backlogged in emergency departments because they are waiting for a funded bed to open up for them inside the hospital, while thousands of beds have been closed down & could be reopened.
Please send a message to Doug Ford: You can’t say you stand up for Canada while privatizing our health care
The United States has the most privatized health care in the developed world. Americans pay almost double our costs for care.
The Ford government is privatizing more & more of our long-term care and hospital surgeries & diagnostics. They’re giving primary care to for-profit chains, privatizing Public Health services like COVID testing, vaccines & more. They’re allowing private clinics to bill OHIP & charge patients on top. They’re moving toward U.S.-style for-profit health care.
U.S. for-profit hospitals charge exorbitant prices. Businesses face high insurance costs for employees. On top, employees pay co-payments every paycheque plus they have to pay deductibles before coverage kicks in…IF they are covered. Insurance companies make profits by denying coverage.
Medical costs are the top reason for bankruptcy: 56 million Americans struggle with medical debt: more than Canada’s entire population.
Every one of us can make a difference
A lot of exaggeration there.I had cateract surgery in hospital and still paid $1600.No complaints!
It makes sense to have private clinics that accept OHIP Payment. Why should one wait for months to get a CT Scan or MRI in a hospital when there is a private group that sees you much more quickly and accepts OHIP as payment.
Hamilton General Hospital has their diagnostic imaging services running 24/7. I went for an MRI at 2:00AM to avoid months wait for an appointment between 8-5.
A friend was given an appointment in June 2026 recently for a CT Scan at Joseph Brant Hospital. This is ridiculous. I have been led to believe that before any diagnostic imagining appointment is given at Joseph Brant Hospital a radiologist decides how quickly the patient gets to be seen.
Private clinics are up and running quickly and certainly are necessary for those people who need to be seen quickly.
GI Health has been operating for years in Burlington. You can be seen quickly. There are Saturday appointments, you get your results before you leave the office, and all services are covered under OHIP.
Countries other than the United States have found better ways forward. France, Germany, Australia, and the Netherlands all operate blended public–private systems. In these systems, government ensures universal coverage, while regulated private options help absorb demand, reduce wait times, and expand services. The results speak for themselves:
Patients enjoy faster access to specialists.
Coverage extends beyond hospitals and physicians to include drugs, dental, and mental health.
Overall costs are often lower than Canada’s, despite offering broader benefits.
Our experience with both cataract surgery and a private pain relief clinic is the only car we needed was our OHIP card.