Latest news with #OCHU
National Post
12 hours ago
- Health
- National Post
Ontarians Want Provincial Government to Prioritize Spending on Public Hospitals Not Private Clinics: New Poll
Article content TORONTO — Nearly three in four Ontarians believe the government should prioritize spending on public hospitals rather than private clinics, in a poll conducted following the recent budget announcement of $280 million being shunted to private, for-profit clinics. Eighty-four per cent of Ontarians also said they believe public hospitals are understaffed. Article content Article content The Nanos poll was conducted between May 27 and June 1, surveying 1,017 Ontarians over the age of 18. The poll was commissioned by CUPE's Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE), which released a supplementary report on the ongoing privatization of hospital services. Article content '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 50,000 hospital and long-term care staff. '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.' Article content While the government expands funding to for-profit clinics, over four in five Ontarians (84%) believe there is not enough staff in public hospitals – including 82 per cent of Ontario PC supporters. Article content In the recent budget health care funding increased two per cent, well below the annual health care inflation of 5.2 per cent, noted the union. Article content After significant privatization of cataract surgeries, the government plans to expand private, for-profit delivery of other procedures including knee and hip replacements as well as diagnostics. In 2023, Premier Doug Ford suggested that up to 50 per cent of surgeries could be performed outside of hospitals. Article content 'This is startling given that for-profit surgeries in Ontario are twice as expensive as those performed in public hospitals,' said Hurley. Article content The OCHU-CUPE report highlights 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. Article content At the media conference, the union showed a visual representation of this inequality through a map of Ontario's neighbourhoods, colour-coded by socioeconomic status. The yellow areas representing the wealthiest neighbourhoods showed the most affluent Ontarians are clustered in enclaves that are barely visible amidst a sea of blue (representing the bottom 80 per cent of residents). Article content '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.' Article content The Ontario Health Coalition has documented hundreds of cases of private, for-profit clinics billing patients for medically necessary services – which is illegal – and add-on services that patients felt compelled to purchase. Article content Sixty-seven per cent of respondents to the Nanos poll said it was unacceptable for private clinics to charge people for medically necessary services. Article content 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. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content
National Post
14 hours ago
- Health
- National Post
75 Per Cent of People in Eastern/Northern Ontario Want Provincial Government to Prioritize Spending on Public Hospitals Instead of Private Clinics: New Poll
Article content OCHU-CUPE media conference in Ottawa at 10am on Tuesday to release full findings of new Nanos poll on privatization Article content OTTAWA, Ontario — Just over 10 days after the recent Ontario budget allocated $280 million for expansion of surgeries and diagnostic tests in private clinics while restraining hospital funding, a new poll shows that 75 per cent of people in Eastern and Northern Ontario want the government to prioritize investments in public health care. Article content Article content The Nanos poll conducted in May surveyed over a thousand Ontarians about privatization of hospital services and their perception about staffing in public hospitals, including a representative sample from Eastern and Northern Ontario. Article content The poll was commissioned by CUPE's Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE), which will be releasing a supplementary report on privatization on Tuesday. Article content On Tuesday, aside from more detailed polling data, the union will also be showing a colour-coded map of Ottawa based on the Ontario Marginalization Index as a visual representation of the inequitable access to privatized hospital services. Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Article content Article content Article content
National Post
4 days ago
- Health
- National Post
Majority of Ontarians Want Provincial Government to Prioritize Spending on Public Hospitals Than Private Clinics: New Poll
Article content OCHU-CUPE media conference at 9:30am on Monday to release full findings of new Nanos poll on privatization Article content TORONTO — Just over 10 days after the recent Ontario budget allocated $280 million for expansion of surgeries and diagnostic tests in private clinics while restraining hospital funding, a new poll shows that 73 per cent of Ontarians want the government to prioritize investments in public health care. Article content Article content The Nanos poll conducted in May surveyed over a thousand Ontarians about privatization of hospital services and their perception about staffing in public hospitals. Article content The poll was commissioned by CUPE's Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE), which will be releasing a supplementary report on privatization at a media conference at Queen's Park on Monday morning. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content For more information, contact: Article content Article content Article content
National Post
16-05-2025
- Health
- National Post
"Health care workers must have the right to protest:" OCHU-CUPE condemns Ottawa mayor's push for 'bubble zone' by-law
Article content OTTAWA, Ontario — The union representing about 10,000 hospital and long-term care staff in Ottawa vowed to fight Mayor Sutcliffe's plan to create 'bubble zones' that would prevent health care workers from exercising their charter rights and organizing demonstrations outside their workplaces. Article content Article content 'We have a constitutional right to protest, and it must not be taken away,' said Michael Hurley, President of CUPE's Ontario Council of Hospital Unions, which represents 50,000 health care staff across the province. 'Health care workers already have limitations on their rights to strike and to refuse unsafe work. Demonstrations are one of the few tools our members have to hold employers and the government accountable, and to raise public awareness about cuts that affect the quality of patient care, privatization of health services, funding, health and safety of staff, and other issues.' Article content The union – which represents a predominantly female and disproportionately racialized workforce – has organized hundreds of protests over the years on a range of issues in the public interest. Article content OCHU-CUPE is urging the Ottawa City Council to use public education campaigns – and where necessary, traditional policing – to address the growing divisions within society that are causing incidents of hatred and intimidation. Article content 'Health care workers are too familiar with the rising tide of hate and violence in society, but attacking our constitutional rights does nothing to protect us, families or patients. All the means to deal with this are already available to the police,' Hurley said. 'We will challenge this by-law on the streets and in court.' Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Article content Article content
