Privatizing surgeries will drive up costs, skew access to the wealthy, lengthen wait lists and worsen the hospital staffing crisis: CUPE

TORONTO, ON –(COMMUNITYWIRE)– The Ford government’s expansion of for-profit clinics will hurt the vast majority of Ontarians who can’t afford to pay for private care, warns the hospital division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

Over the last week, the Ford government has announced $270 million in funding for private clinics to deliver surgeries and diagnostic tests, claiming it will improve wait-times.

“There is ample evidence that private clinics discourage the vast majority of people, offering increased access only to the most affluent,” said Michael Hurley, president of CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE). “These investor-owned clinics are primarily interested in generating profits – they do it through illegal extra-billing and upselling that is unaffordable for ordinary people.”

Hurley referenced last year’s study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, showing that the top 20 per cent of the wealthiest people in Ontario experienced significantly increased access to privatized cataract surgeries while everyone else in the province was hurt by the policy- the poorest lost access by nine per cent.

While the government says that privatization will improve wait-times, the union highlights that Ontario’s experience with cataract surgeries shows otherwise. Data from the Canadian Institute of Health Information shows that only 66 per cent of people in Ontario received cataract surgeries on time in 2024, compared to 72 per cent in 2019 prior to privatization.

Hurley warned that for-profit clinics can only expand their services at the expense of public hospitals, by bleeding staff away from the public system. And, based on contracts obtained by CBC through FOI, the costs of surgeries will be double what public hospitals charge. The Ministry has refused to disclose its contracts with the private clinic owners.

OCHU-CUPE recently commissioned polling on the issue, which showed that 73 per cent of people wanted the government to prioritize funding for public hospitals over private, for-profit clinics.

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For more information, please contact:

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