Privatization of care will make wait times longer, put strain on staff, Hamilton hospital workers say
CBC
Hamilton health-care workers are rallying against the provincial government's plan to allow more private clinics to offer certain publicly funded surgeries and procedures — and calling on leaders of the city's health-care institutions to support their fight.
Pouring rain on Monday didn't stop at least 100 health-care workers, union representatives and supporters from showing up at the St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton location on Charlton Avenue East to voice their concerns.
One nurse told CBC Hamilton she worried that an increase in privatized services will impact the quality of care and increase the strain on workers.
"Privatization is not going to help any of us," said Jackie Walker, a registered practical nurse and president of the nursing division at the Service Employee International Union (SEIU).
"It's going to make wait times longer, because we know nurses are going to leave the hospital and go work at those for profit, investor-led clinics," she said.
Bill 60, or Your Health Act, passed in early May. The legislation is aimed at reducing wait times and surgical backlogs.
Walker compared the government's move to the privatization of long-term care homes, saying the care for residents is worse there.
"The investor-led clinics are his buddies, they're his donors, they are the people who are in his inner circle, and they don't look like me. They don't live where I live. And the care that I need in my community is not going to be there," she said.
Data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows Ontario had the shortest waiting times in Canada for hip and knee replacement surgeries in 2021/2022, with 73 per cent of patients receiving knee replacement surgery within six months while patients in provinces outsourcing surgeries to for-profit clinics waited longer— 70, 53 and 48 per cent in British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec respectively.
Only cataract surgery lagged behind, with 60 per cent of surgeries being done within the 16-week benchmark.
Cataract surgeries and diagnostic imaging and testing will be expanded while the government will create an entirely new system to perform hip and knee replacement surgeries.
On Monday, provincial and local leaders from the SEIU, the Ontario Nurses Association, the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union led the group of protesters, while chanting "patient, not profit" and "hey-hey, ho-ho, privatization has got to go," to deliver a petition to Elizabeth Buller, CEO of St. Joseph's Health System.
St. Joseph's Health System has six member organizations, in Hamilton, Kitchener, Guelph, Brantford and Dundas.
The petition called on Buller to lobby the province in support of public health care. However, Buller wasn't there Monday, rally organizers said.
Organizers of a long-running food and wine show that showcases the country's best booze aren't letting a growing trend that sees Canadians drinking less alcohol stop the London event.
Robert Grenier, an archaeologist known for pioneering underwater exploration, has died.
In just over a month, millions of Canadians will be gathering to watch ice hockey at the Milano-Cortina Winter Games.
Maintenance workers at Halifax's Scotiabank Centre made a fitting discovery in a freight elevator over the Christmas holidays.
Mike Donovan doesn’t have a traditional ice-fishing shack in the makeshift village on the Kennebasis River in Rothesay.
York police said three suspects were taken into custody after a commercial break and enter in Vaughan Saturday morning.
Marc Nuckle, a security guard at Montreal’s Notre-Dame Hospital, says a number of weapons have been found on patients and their companions since metal detectors were installed at the entrance of the emergency room.
Murray Trout paces through his living room as plumbers scurry down the hallway to attend to yet another burst water pipe in Pimicikamak Cree Nation.
Just hours after the United States announced it had attacked oil-rich Venezuela and captured its president Nicolás Maduro, the wife of a top adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump issued a stark warning to Canada on social media.
The B.C. Geographical Names Office (BCGNO) is considering rescinding the name "Trutch" from four more locations across the province over their namesake's racist legacy.
An audit of Hamilton’s outdoor shelter project found that when it came to constructing the shelters, “urgency overrode the importance of due diligence and good governance.”
Stellantis says it will phase out plug‑in hybrid (PHEV) programs in North America beginning with the 2026 model year.
Some Calgary city councillors are throwing cold water on the idea that an Enmax-like corporation, owned by the city, should oversee its water system in the future.