FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Barrie, ON – In the early 2000s, the Labour government in England began contracting out hospital surgeries to for-profit facilities with the stated policy objective of reducing wait-times.
However, two decades of privatization led to increasing inequalities, longer wait-times, and reduction in capacity in the public system, according to research by Allyson Pollock, professor emerita at Newcastle University.
These reports offer lessons for Ontario, which is comparatively in the initial stages of its hospital privatization plan and has used the same rationale to contract out cataract, hip, and knee surgeries.
On Monday afternoon, Pollock will be joined by OCHU-CUPE president Michael Hurley and Ontario Health Coalition executive director Natalie Mehra to reveal detailed findings of these academic studies and their relevance to Ontario at a press conference in Barrie.
The Ontario Health Coalition will also be providing an update about access to surgeries through in Barrie.
Who: Allyson Pollock, professor emerita at Newcastle University
Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition
Michael Hurley, president of OCHU-CUPE
What: Media conference to release new reports on hospital privatization in England
Where: Barrie Public Library – 60 Worsley St., Barrie
When: 2 p.m. on Monday, November 17
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For more information, contact:
Zee Noorsumar
CUPE Communications
647-995-9859
