New poll shows nearly seven in ten Torontonians want investment in public hospitals instead of private, for-profit clinics
Only 2.5 per cent of Toronto residents think the government should prioritize private clinics over public hospitals
TORONTO, ON –(COMMUNITYWIRE)– A new poll shows 69 per cent of people in Toronto want the provincial government to prioritize spending on public hospitals rather than private clinics.
The Nanos poll was conducted between May 27 and June 1, surveying 1,017 Ontarians over the age of 18, including a representative sample of Toronto residents. The poll was commissioned by CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE).
The union also released a supplementary report on privatization, which highlights the wealth-based disparity in access to private clinics in Ontario.
Summary of polling results of Toronto residents:
- 65% say it’s unacceptable for private clinics to charge patients for medically necessary services
- 69% say government must prioritize spending on public health care, not private clinics (only 2.5% favour private clinics over hospitals)
- 81% believe there’s not enough staff in public hospitals
- 70% agree that privatization will negatively impact access to care for the poorest people
“This poll shows there is overwhelming opposition to this government’s plans to privatize hospital surgeries,” said Michael Hurley, president of OCHU-CUPE, which represents about 17,000 health care workers in the Greater Toronto Area.
“The public understands that spending on private, for-profit clinics and agencies is much more expensive, comes with poorer outcomes and duplicates infrastructure and administration. The vast majority wants our resources allocated to public health care.”
In the recent Ontario budget, the Ford government recently allocated $280 million for private, for-profit clinics to perform a range of procedures including knee and hip replacements.
The union says that money should be invested in public hospitals, as most institutions in the province are facing budget deficits. Ontario has the lowest per-person hospital spending across Canada.
The OCHU-CUPE report references the findings of a 2024 Canadian Medical Association Journal study showing that privatization of cataract operations resulted in surgical rates increasing by 22 per cent for the wealthiest Ontarians while declining for everyone else. Access to surgeries for the poorest people in Ontario declined nine per cent. The study noted that hospitals provided equal access to care. Part of the accessibility issue is likely due to user fees levied by private clinics.
The Ontario Health Coalition has been documenting cases of private, for-profit clinics billing patients for medically necessary services – which is illegal – and add-on services that patients feel compelled to purchase.
“People can’t afford to pay thousands of dollars for health care,” Hurley said. “The great majority of Ontarians reject this expensive privatization that bakes in inequalities and greatly reduces access.”
Sixty-five per cent of respondents to the Nanos poll said it was unacceptable for private clinics to charge people for medically necessary services.
The union expressed concerns about the acceleration of privatization, citing the CMAJ study’s findings showing that since expansion of public funding for cataract surgeries in Ontario, 22.5 per cent of these procedures were performed in private clinics.
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For more information, please contact:
Zee Noorsumar, CUPE Communications
znoorsumar@cupe.ca
647-995-9859