
MDs want hospitals kept public ROBERT BENZIE - The Toronto Star \|\| March 24, 2006 [KDR: Keep in mind that both the Liberals and Conservatives have been working toward private healthcare in Canada.] In an open letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty being made public today, dozens of doctors from across the province are urging Queen's Park to "stop the privatization of Ontario's hospitals." "We call on the government to act in the public interest and to use citizens' dollars responsibly," says the letter opposing hospitals built by private-public partnerships, or the so-called P3 hospitals. "Hospital construction and services must be publicly funded and hospitals must remain fully publicly managed and serviced," says the letter, written on behalf of the left-leaning Ontario Health Coalition, a lobby group opposed to two-tier health. It was signed by 69 doctors, including University of Toronto researcher Nancy Olivieri and health consultant Michael Rachlis. "The solution is for hospital redevelopment to be funded publicly. Governments can obtain much more favourable borrowing terms than can the private sector. "The public will pay for our hospitals either way. But with public funding, we avoid the higher costs of P3s and keep hospital management, property and services in public hands," the missive says. "And we stop the growth of a for-profit health industry that has an interest in two-tier health care from which they can take profit, further increasing the cost of health care." When the previous Progressive Conservative government first broached P3 hospitals several years ago, the Liberals promised to curb the trend. Article Posted at www.KnowledgeDrivenRevolution.com One week before the Oct. 2, 2003 election, McGuinty attacked then-premier Ernie Eves for proceeding with P3 hospitals in Brampton and Ottawa. "I'm calling on Mr. Eves to halt any contract signing when it comes to P3s in the province of Ontario. I stand against the Americanization of our hospitals," McGuinty said at the time. But since winning the election, McGuinty has triggered 22 new private-public hospital projects. The Liberals, who forbid the public use of the term "P3" by government officials, refer to their P3s as "Alternative Funding and Procurement," or AFP, and claim their model is tantamount to paying a mortgage on a new hospital while the Tories' plan was like paying a lease. But the doctors say in the letter that "AFP is a version of a ... P3, in which for-profit consortia take over financing, construction, facility management, maintenance and some hospital services for long term deals stretching up to 40 years." AFP projects "often seek additional revenue through commercial land deals on the public hospital lands, and service charges or user fees for patients and their visitors," the doctors add. Opponents fear P3s will edge toward a more privatized health-care system, but the Liberals argue new hospitals would not be built without private-sector involvement. About KDR \| \| Home \| \| Weekly Features Archive	Weekly Weekly Features Archive
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MDs want hospitals kept public

ROBERT BENZIE - The Toronto Star || March 24, 2006

[KDR: Keep in mind that both the Liberals and Conservatives have been working toward private healthcare in Canada.]

In an open letter to Premier Dalton McGuinty being made public today, dozens of doctors from across the province are urging Queen's Park to "stop the privatization of Ontario's hospitals."

"We call on the government to act in the public interest and to use citizens' dollars responsibly," says the letter opposing hospitals built by private-public partnerships, or the so-called P3 hospitals.

"Hospital construction and services must be publicly funded and hospitals must remain fully publicly managed and serviced," says the letter, written on behalf of the left-leaning Ontario Health Coalition, a lobby group opposed to two-tier health.

It was signed by 69 doctors, including University of Toronto researcher Nancy Olivieri and health consultant Michael Rachlis.

"The solution is for hospital redevelopment to be funded publicly. Governments can obtain much more favourable borrowing terms than can the private sector.

"The public will pay for our hospitals either way. But with public funding, we avoid the higher costs of P3s and keep hospital management, property and services in public hands," the missive says.

"And we stop the growth of a for-profit health industry that has an interest in two-tier health care from which they can take profit, further increasing the cost of health care."

When the previous Progressive Conservative government first broached P3 hospitals several years ago, the Liberals promised to curb the trend.

Article Posted at www.KnowledgeDrivenRevolution.com

One week before the Oct. 2, 2003 election, McGuinty attacked then-premier Ernie Eves for proceeding with P3 hospitals in Brampton and Ottawa.

"I'm calling on Mr. Eves to halt any contract signing when it comes to P3s in the province of Ontario. I stand against the Americanization of our hospitals," McGuinty said at the time.

But since winning the election, McGuinty has triggered 22 new private-public hospital projects.

The Liberals, who forbid the public use of the term "P3" by government officials, refer to their P3s as "Alternative Funding and Procurement," or AFP, and claim their model is tantamount to paying a mortgage on a new hospital while the Tories' plan was like paying a lease.

But the doctors say in the letter that "AFP is a version of a ... P3, in which for-profit consortia take over financing, construction, facility management, maintenance and some hospital services for long term deals stretching up to 40 years."

AFP projects "often seek additional revenue through commercial land deals on the public hospital lands, and service charges or user fees for patients and their visitors," the doctors add.

Opponents fear P3s will edge toward a more privatized health-care system, but the Liberals argue new hospitals would not be built without private-sector involvement.

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