MEDIA ADVISORY - Hamilton hospital staff to hold protest to save public healthcare from privatization, seek local support

HAMILTON, ON, June 9, 2023 /CNW/ - Thousands of hospital staff including nurses, personal workers and lab technologists at St. Joseph's Healthcare Centre Hamilton are taking action in an outraged response to the Ford government's plan to contract out hospital surgeries to private, for-profit clinics.

On Monday, front-line health-care workers will be rallying at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, demanding that hospital executives support efforts to fight off handing taxpayer funds to private profiteers at the expense of patient care.

A majority of the workers have signed a petition showing their determination to stop investor-led clinics and protect public healthcare. Premier Doug Ford's Conservatives recently passed legislation ? Bill 60, the deceptively named Your Health Act ? that farms out surgeries and diagnostic procedures to private, for-profit clinics. Hospital staff say this PC plan would devastate the services in most of Ontario's public hospitals, including Hamilton's, and threaten public healthcare.

Participating in the event are workers from the health-care unions representing staff at St. Joseph's Healthcare ? the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU/SEPFO), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA). This is the second in a series of such rallies being organized by a coalition of five unions, including the Service Employees International Union (SEIU Healthcare) and Unifor.

The intention of the rally is to get a firm commitment from St. Joseph's Healthcare management that it will defend public delivery of healthcare and fight all attempts to privatize the system. At the same time, health-care workers want Ford to know that together they demand an end to further privatization. Unions warn that unless privatization is stopped, the non-profit hospital system that Ontario built and relied on for a century will be irreparably damaged.

Since the provincial government's push to privatize hospital services and bring in investor-led clinics was made public, members of ONA, CUPE, OPSEU/SEFPO, SEIU Healthcare and Unifor have all launched campaigns at community hospitals.

SOURCE Ontario Nurses' Association