Ford says surgical waitlists will mirror pre-pandemic levels by March under new private health-care plan

Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s three-step plan for expanding the ranges and numbers of surgeries performed in private clinics aims to cut surgical waitlists to pre-pandemic levels by March 2023. 

Doug Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones jointly made the announcement Monday morning. 

The Ford government says turning to private clinics is necessary to reduce the surgical backlog, but many are concerned this could mean more expensive health-care, and change the way Ontarians access free health services. 

There are currently 206,000 people estimated to be waiting for surgical procedures, according to a release by the provincial government. For reference, last fall, there were approximately 209,000 patients waiting for a hospital operating room-based surgical procedure in Ontario, and about 200,000 before the pandemic. 

This means 6,000 surgeries would be completed in private clinics by March to hit the pre-pandemic waitlist time, according to the government’s new plan.

The plan also comes as health-care experts are ringing alarm bells on staffing shortages and overcrowding in hospitals.

Step one of the Ford government’s plan is to add 14,000 cataract surgeries through “new partnerships” at centres in Windsor, Kitchener-Waterloo and Ottawa. The government says this surgery has one of the longest wait times for procedures.

Step two focuses solely on reducing wait times, by “expanding the scope of community surgical and diagnostic centres to address regional needs.”

Step three will see the provincial government introduce new legislation next month, hoping to allow existing community diagnostic centres to perform more MRI and CT scanning. 

All, of course, for a price. 

Ford’s plan on the latest steps in privatizing health-care in the province is ravaged by negative responses on social media. 

One Twitter user says, “The health system needs to be fixed not privatized. The debate is equal access to healthcare for all vs. those who can afford it and you’ve chosen profits over people.”

However, it’s not just civilians concerned about what the new plan means.

Many government officials and party opponents have been outspoken against privatizing health-care in Ontario.

The opposition Ontario Liberal Party said in a release, “Doug Ford has chosen to send an open invitation for corporations to profit off of our publicly funded healthcare system.”

There are currently about 900 privately operated surgical and diagnostic clinics open in Ontario.

Experts have questioned why the province would choose to invest in private health-care instead of providing more support to the public health-care sector.

Just hours after the Ford announcement, “Canada Health Act” was trending in Canada.

Many Twitter users said they were concerned this move by the province could violate the Canada Health Act, which clearly states health-care should be public. 

Last week, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario said any expansion of private surgical centres would create challenges for hospitals.

“Many months ago, we were consulted and shared our opinion that stand-alone surgical centres need to be connected to the hospital system to ensure continuity of care and patient safety,” college registrar Dr. Nancy Whitmore said in a statement.

“We also shared that this wasn’t the solution to the health-care crisis and would further tax our health human resources shortages and further increase wait times for more urgent hospital-based care.” 

(Photo caption: On Jan. 16, 2023, Ontario Premier Doug Ford made an announcement on investing in for-profit health-care centres to reduce the province’s surgical backlog. Courtesy- Twitter/@fordnation.)