One of the provinces inspiring Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s decision to expand the use of private clinics to tackle surgical backlogs is bolstering its public health care system at the expense of private operators accused of underusing operating rooms.
In 2018, shortly after the New Democrats came to office, the province also bought two MRI clinics in Surrey and Abbotsford, which Health Minister Adrian Dix said would reduce waiting times and costs. But these surgical centres and other private health clinics are prohibited from charging patients any fees and their “contracting is ended” if such practices are uncovered, his statement said.by The Globe and Mail found significant, unlawful extra billing by Canadian doctors through private clinics – especially in B.C. According to the 2022 Canada Health Act annual report, the province lost $62.
B.C. argued its approach is working: Halfway through the 2022-23 fiscal year, B.C.’s surgery volumes exceeded pre-pandemic levels and operating room hours increased by 5 per cent compared with the same timeframe in 2019. Data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information show that Ontario had shorter waiting times for most surgeries in 2021 than the provinces it is looking to for solutions. Ontario only lagged behind Alberta, B.C. and Quebec in removing cataracts – with 60 per cent of surgeries being done within the 16-week benchmark. Ontario had the shortest waiting times for hip and knee replacements.
Andrew Longhurst, a health policy researcher at Simon Fraser University, conducted a study last summer through the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives looking at extra-billing practices in B.C. and the use of private surgery clinics. The study found that from 2015-16 to 2020-21, the province spent $393.9-million on outsourcing surgical procedures and medical imaging and annual spending increased by 57 per cent.
Bc is investing? You mean throwing money on the fire. The structure of healthcare is broken, not funding.
Sounds like ontario is going to have superior Healthcare.
MikePHager Conservatives want to destroy universal healthcare! They only want healthcare for the rich.
This is not investing. This is opex spending to pay for programs that we provide tax money for.
More of a donation than investment?
That's because BC has had surgeries taking place in private clinics since before the pandemic. You're falling for the BC NDP's PR scheme. Dig deeper.
BC Health Care the worst in Canada.
“Reinvests”. Meaning throwing more taxpayer $$ into an unsustainable system. Its a money pit. The foundation upon which the system is built is flawed. More $$ cannot fix it until it is torn down and rebuilt from the bottoms up. Innovation required. Govt is incapable of that.
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