A Victoria Harbour man unhappy with the current state of the healthcare system is doing something about it.
Paul Cummings recently launched a petition addressed to area hospital CEOs, including Georgian Bay General Hospital CEO Matthew Lawson, asking them to speak out publicly and tell Premier Doug Ford that they’re against privatization of the province’s healthcare system.
“I am navigating the healthcare system currently with lung and prostate cancer,” the 64-year-old says. “Sunnybrook was a nightmare. Almost four hours waiting for a 10-minute appointment and blood work.”
Cummings, who contributed to the Ontario Priorities panel on primary care as part of the national Our Care movement, says it’s time for everyone in Ontario to speak out before the next election.
According to Cummings, the province has withheld billions in healthcare “to prove that privatization is the only solution to our broken and burnt-out system.”
But Cummings says this is simply not the case.
“Despite the Canada Health Act, loopholes exist that will allow private clinics to up-sell better service for those that can afford to pay,” he says. “This will leave those who depend on public healthcare to still be on a waiting list while those that can pay out of pocket, will be first on the list.
“These clinics will be for-profit and will not solve any of the issues we currently see. They will actually be an additional burden to our healthcare in Ontario.
“The status quo is not good enough as it stands and privatization is not the solution. Those that depend on a broken publicly funded system will still have to wait.”
Cummings says being on the panel along with his own experiences and the government’s move to open the Greenbelt to development illustrates the government “ignores the wishes of the people they serve.”
He says hospital CEOs bring powerful voices to the table and could change the course of discussion.
“Will you speak out publicly against privatization?” he asks. “Will you let Doug Ford know you are against private, for-profit clinics?”
Cummings says he was honoured to represent Simcoe County on the panel that featured 35 members from across the province and concluded its work in February.
The panel, which was started by Dr. Tara Kiran from St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto University, sought to study primary care in Ontario over a four-month period and look for short- and long-term solutions to make the system better.
“We heard from more than 16 doctors throughout the process who were burnt out,” Cummings said, noting the report delved into the need to better fund the public system rather than move to greater privatization.
“Although it did get media attention and was presented to the minister of health and the premier by the CEO of Ontario Health, it has been what we were afraid of.... ignored by the government.”
