Right now, cancer providers around the world are scratching their heads and saying ‘what’s going on in Ontario? They’ve got one of the best systems in the world and they’re destroying Cancer Care Ontario? That doesn’t make sense, lamented Dr. Bob Bell, former Ontario deputy health minister.
More than 400 health-sector workers are being laid off in Ontario as Doug Ford moves to merge 20 agencies into one.
Another 416 people in “back-office positions” such as communications, planning, data analytics, and financial services will lose their jobs and another 409 vacant positions will be eliminated, health officials said.
Ontario health minister, Christine Elliott said that while some health workers will be able to be re-hired in similar roles once the Ontario Health agency starts filling its back-office positions, not everyone will be.
The super-agency model has been tried in other provinces, most recently Nova Scotia — before that Alberta. There is a tendency towards a period of chaos that can last as long as five years. It has not worked in other provinces.
Just this week, Doug Ford canceled out-of-country health insurance. The program currently covers out-of-country inpatient services up to $400 per day for a higher level of care, such as intensive care, as well up to $50 per day for emergency outpatient and doctor services.
Andrew Scheer is making promises to increase health care across all provinces, which was exactly what Doug Ford promised Ontarians, but every day, it is a thousand more cuts.
