MEDIA ADVISORY: Five years into Ford government’s privatization of hospital services: longer wait-times, unequal access, and public opposition

Event Information

Begins: 16 June 2025
Location: Kingston, ON

OCHU-CUPE media conference in Kingston on Monday to release new report on privatization

KINGSTON, ON –(COMMUNITYWIRE)– Five years ago, the Ford government began the privatization of cataract surgeries under the guise of improving wait-times. New data from CIHI shows that wait-times for cataract surgeries have worsened since then, while new polling results show stiff public opposition to the government’s signature policy initiative. Meanwhile, the government is moving ahead with further privatization of knee and hip surgeries.

On Monday in Kingston, CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE), will be releasing a new report on privatization along with findings of a new Nanos poll of residents in Eastern Ontario, 75 per cent of whom want the government to prioritize investments in public hospitals instead of private clinics.

The union will also be showing a map of Kingston based on the Ontario Marginalization Index as a visual representation of the inequitable access to privatized hospital services.

WHO:
Michael Hurley, president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE) and Doug Allan, CUPE Researcher

WHAT:
Media conference to release polling and report on privatization of hospital services

WHERE:
Kingston City Hall, Station View Room – 216 Ontario St, Kingston, ON

WHEN:
10 a.m. on Monday, June 16

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For more information, contact:

Zee Noorsumar, CUPE Communications
znoorsumar@cupe.ca
647-995-9859