annual report - Ontario Society of Senior Citizens` Organizations

Ontario Health Coalition
ANNUAL REPORT
2014-2015
Stop Private Clinics
Save Our Local Public Hospitals!
November 21 Rally
Well over 3,000 people attended
our November 21 rally at Queen’s
Park to stop the hospital cuts and
privatization. In addition to the
Queen’s Park event, the local group
in St. Marys held a rally outside their
hospital protesting the cuts.
We used the lead-in to the rally to
build as much awareness and
opposition to the public hospital
cuts and privatization as possible.
We organized special local meetings
and travelled Ontario speaking at
them. We held a conference call
with the local coalitions and
together organized special meetings
to plan for the events in Ottawa,
London, Hamilton, Penetanguishene, Peterborough, Windsor, Kingston, Niagara-on-the-Lake,
Welland, Stratford, Sudbury, Oshawa, in Toronto with seniors’ organizations, at the University of
Toronto, and with the Canadian Federation of Students. We also held a special conference call for
Toronto hospital union locals. In addition, we sent speakers to the following events: Ontario Nurses’
Association convention; Steelworkers Toronto Area Council; Orillia Labour Council; Guelph Social
Justice Coalition; Waterloo Region Labour Council; Toronto Labour Council; Peterborough Labour
Council; Quinte Labour Council; Lindsay Labour Council; Stratford Labour Council; Durham Labour
Council; Council of Canadians conference call; Parkdale Seniors Advocacy Group. This process was
effective in getting out the word and building for the rally.
We also planned to hold local media events to build for the rally. These were held by local coalitions
in Kingston, Peterborough, Niagara, Stratford and London, Chatham, Wallaceburg, Petrolia and
Sarnia. They garnered excellent media coverage in all communities except London.
For the rally itself, we were able to get media coverage on City TV, CP24 and affiliates, and in the
Sun. We also got print and TV coverage in local media leading in (and some on the day of the protest
also).
Code Red Report
On April 1 we released a major new report, “Code Red: Ontario’s Hospital
Cuts Crisis”. In it, we warned that Ontario’s hospitals are living in a
permanent state of crisis, having been pushed by years of cuts into levels
of overcrowding that are dangerous for patients and staff. With the report,
the Coalition released an interactive map of Ontario showing 51 hospital
sites out of just over 200 hospital sites across the province that are
marked as “Code Red” denoting significant hospital cuts or threat of
closure. This means that at least one in four of Ontario hospitals is
experiencing significant cuts or closure.
We garnered significant media attention. Executive director Natalie
Mehra did the noon-hour call-in shown on CBC Ontario Today. We held
a press conference via teleconference on April 2 to release it to the
rest of the media. We have received coverage ever since, first in local
newspapers and following that, on local radio talk shows.
Hospital Cuts Local Campaigns
New Liskeard
The local hospital planned to cut 15 FTE staff positions (about 10% of
the staff) including 9 RN + RPN positions equalling approx. 18,000
hours annually of nursing care. They also planned to close the
cafeteria for patients, visitors and staff, dramatically reducing the
food options for patients and forcing all others to travel into town to
get food. In addition, they intended to close the Operating Room 50%
of the time. We organized two public meetings in partnership with
CUPE in New Liskeard. The first was attended by about 20 people.
The second was attended by about 100 people. The local group
worked hard to get out the word, distributing leaflets on weekends
around the community. We organized a rally for Friday, December 12
and another on January 10. Responding to public pressure, local MPP
John Vanthof raised a question in the Legislature about the cuts. The
Health Minister responded that he would look into the situation. It appears
that the public pressure has rolled back the OR closure (1/2 time closure
was planned but it seems to be stopped).
Penetanguishene/Midland
Natalie Mehra, executive director, met with the local group that had come
together to stop the local hospital cuts in late October and we held a
public meeting on November 7 attended by more than 150 people. We
printed 200 lawn signs which were distributed and put up all over the
community. The local group organized a bus to join the November 21 rally
and they met with the Health Minister’s staff on the day of the rally. They
were told it is too late to stop the closure of the beds in Penetanguishene.
The hospital closed 36 complex continuing care, rehab and palliative care beds from the
Penetanguishene site in early December. The beds were close to 100% occupancy prior to closure.
All patients have to go to the Midland hospital to access care now. The only service remaining in
Penetanguishene is dialysis. The local group made an appeal with the French Language Services
Commissioner. The empty Penetanguishene hospital is being turned into a health care “hub”
involving for- and non-profit health care businesses and social services. The group is also trying to
stop the cuts to services in Midland.
Niagara
The Niagara Health Coalition has
been extremely active organizing to
save their local hospitals from
closure. Niagara has suffered
among the very worst cuts in
Ontario. Hospital CEO Kevin Smith
was brought in as a Supervisor to
take over the management and
Board. He recommended closure of
five entire hospital sites and their
replacement with one hospital.
Local hospitals in Niagara-on-theLake, Welland, Port Colborne, and
Fort Erie are now slated for total
closure.
The OHC has been working with the
More than 150 people attended a fundraising dinner for the Welland Save
local coalition to save the hospitals.
Our Hospital campaign
The Niagara Health Coalition organized
two town hall meetings, one in Niagara-on-the-Lake
and one in Welland. More than 300 people
attended the meetings. The communities mobilized
to bus to Toronto for the November 21 rally. Local
action groups have been established and local
campaigns are underway in both communities.
The Niagara Health Coalition organized a
Fundraising Dinner and Public Forum January 17 &
18 in Niagara-on-the-Lake. Both were very well
attended, with more than 150 people at the public
forum and lots of media coverage. Working with the
Welland group, they also organized a large
fundraising dinner, attended by more than 150
people in that part of the peninsula.
In a bid to find ways to stop the impending closures,
we conducted a series of high-level meetings. OHC
executive director Natalie Mehra met with lawyers
and obtained a legal opinion regarding the
possibilities for an injunction to stop the closure of
Niagara-on-the-Lake’s hospital. Local coalition chair
Several hundred people attended Days of Action in
Hamilton and Nigara to stop the hospital cuts, closures
and privatization
Sue Hotte and Natalie Mehra met with the President of the Board to try to stop the closures. The
President did not have answers to any of our questions about where the 10 acute care beds are
going (if they exist), what they will do with the patients who need the Niagara-on-the-Lake beds, and
she took issue with us asking her these questions.
Natalie also contracted international health policy expert Dr. John Lister to review the documents
pertaining to the plan to close the 5 hospitals in Niagara. He wrote an expert analysis which was
highly critical of the plans. We took Dr. Lister on a tour, holding town hall meetings in Hamilton and
Niagara. With the Niagara Health Coalition, we held press conferences in Welland and Niagara on
the Lake on March 30 that were well-attended and received wide media coverage. We also held a
press conference at Queen’s Park on April 2.
Leamington
We coordinated a conference
call to forge an action plan to
stop the closure of the
maternal and child care
services from the Leamington
Hospital. Natalie Mehra, OHC
executive director, got in
touch with the local stop-thecuts group, and they agreed to
work together to save the
services. Working with the
local group Save OB
Leamington, we held a town
hall meeting on January 20
attended by more than 100
people. Out of that meeting
Expectant mother Sandra speaking at a Save OB Leamington/ Essex Health Coalition
we agreed to form a local health meeting. She is joined on the panel by OHC executive director Natalie Mehra.
coalition and set an action plan
which we have implemented, including a Protest at Deb Matthews’s office in London on February 28
(attended by about 60 people and covered in the media) and a Day of Action at Legislature March 5.
The day at the Legislature included a media conference which was widely covered, meetings with
Lisa Gretzky (NDP Windsor) and Taras Nadyshak’s staff (NDP Windsor); Christine Elliott’s staff (PC
Health Critic & leadership candidate), Michelle-Ann Hylton (Senior Policy Advisor to the Minister of
Health) and Rachel Levy (Minister’s office). We asked both Opposition Parties to welcome the group
from Leamington to the Legislature, which they did. The issue was raised in Question Period.
Ultimately we were successful in stopping the planned closure of the Leamington birthing unit.
St. Marys
We held a Public Meeting on February 12
attended by more than 100 people. The hospital
CEO was there and we debated him on the cuts.
The media coverage was positive. There was
interest in the meeting in setting up a public
meeting in Seaforth. We are hoping to write a
report on the impact of the cuts on hospital
occupancy and patient flow across the Huron
Perth Health Alliance (Stratford, Clinton,
Seaforth, St. Marys) for public release.
Sault Ste. Marie
We held a Public Meeting on February 25 which
was attended by more than 100 people. We
garnered media coverage in the major
newspapers. We re-established the Sault Ste.
Marie Health Coalition and formed a local action
plan to stop the cuts.
Quinte
About 100 people attended a rally in Hamilton to stop the
hospital cuts and privatization
OHC executive director Natalie Mehra spoke at
rally on March 7 in Quinte West (Trenton). There were more than 450 people at the rally along with
all the local media. This fall, Natalie met with the local citizen’s group, Our TMH (Trenton Memorial
Hospital).
The local group was happy to work together and we organized a major rally of approximately 600
people in early November. Again, media coverage was excellent. The local Member of Provincial
Parliament has been feeling the pressure and had convened a series of committees in a bid to
forestall public ire. The next step is to organize a Day of Action at the Ontario Legislature with a
media conference, greetings by the Opposition Parties, questions in Question Period and a media
conference at Ontario’s Legislature.
Brockville
We helped to plan a town hall meeting in Brockville on May 28 in partnership with OCHU/CUPE,
attended by more than 100 people. We formed a local health coalition and drafted a petition which
coalition members have been distributing throughout the summer and fall.
Hamilton
On March 4 we held an initial planning meeting in Hamilton attended by about 20 people. We got
feedback on the draft leaflet, made the changes and distributed it. We made plans for lead-in
events, a launch, and public outreach.
North Bay
We organized a campaign in response to a
round of cuts impacting departments
across the hospital, including surgery,
emergency, clinical support, laboratory
pharmacy, medical. In addition, the mental
health rehab unit was cut. We held a
Public Meeting on February 9 attended by
approximately 150 people. It was well
covered by the media. We formed a local
health coalition and action plan. Another
round of cuts was announced earlier this
fall. Approximately 160 full-time front-line
staff are slated to be cut along with all the
services they provide. We are gearing up
for a major Day of Action in North Bay to
stop the cuts.
Sudbury
OHC executive director Natalie Mehra met with leaders from Ontario's
health care unions to ask for their help in stopping the hospital cuts. In
the spring, OPSEU, ONA, CUPE and Unifor held a press conference
outside the Ontario Legislature announcing Days of Action to stop the
cuts
We organized a public meeting in Sudbury in
March to stop cuts to surgical, support
services, nursing and other clinical care at the hospital. More than 300 people attended. We reestablished the local coalition and built toward a Day of Action on April 17 at MPP Glenn Thibeault’s
office in Sudbury.
Heads of Health Care Unions Meeting
We convened a heads-of-health care unions meeting on November 25 to discuss the gravity of the
hospital cuts and privatization plans. We held a joint press conference at Queen’s Park to announce
the Days of Action to stop the hospital cuts.
Days of Action to Stop Hospital
Cuts/Privatization
Across Ontario more than 1,600 people have participated in
Regional Days of Action to save our local hospital services from cuts
and privatization. The most recent event was held in Trenton and
attended by people concerned about the cuts from Ottawa, Perth
and Smiths Falls, Brockville, Kingston, Peterborough and
Northumberland. Earlier this year, from April until June, we held a
series of five major regional rallies in Sudbury, Niagara, Hamilton,
Ottawa, and London. In the lead-in to the events, we held multiple
media conferences and distributed more than 120,000 flyers to
households about the cuts.
Dr. John Lister Tour
Dr. John Lister, a health policy expert and professor from the
University of Coventry in the U.K. has volunteered to come and help
us for two weeks. We held events focused on hospital cuts and
closures with John in St. Catharines, Port Colborne, Welland,
Hamilton, Thorold, Ingersoll, London and Ottawa. We arranged
media interviews with the Hamilton Spectator, Ottawa Citizen, St.
Marys Independent, 610 CKTB St. Catharines, 900 CHML in
Hamilton, CHCH TV, and London Free Press. Groups ranged from
small -- in St. Catharines – a small group of about 15 gathered to
hear Dr. Lister and ask questions. They discussed planning for
the Day of Action in Niagara, took materials, and organized to
distribute them throughout the community – to large: on May
13 in Port Colborne approximately 80 people came out to hear
Dr. Lister. The energized group were keen to help organize
towards the Day of Action. In Welland, the same day, we had
about 30 people out to hear Dr. Lister and they also planned to
build momentum for the Day of Action. Dr. Lister also attended
the Labour Council Meeting in Thorold and spoke to those in
attendance.
London area activists and volunteers made
visual depictions of an alarm clock and a
skeleton on a hospital bed to "raise the
alarm" about the health care cuts outside
MPP and Deputy Premier Deb Matthews'
office
Home Care
We met with the Auditor General’s staff
regarding the special audit of the Community
Care Access Centres and the broader home
care audit. We sent follow up
correspondence with supporting resources.
We wrote a major home care report and
arranged a press conference to release it at
Queen’s Park on March 10. Local Health
Coalitions also arranged local media
coverage. The Toronto Star covered the
report and included it in an editor, CBC news
and CBC Ontario Today covered it also, as
well as local newspapers. OHC executive
director Natalie Mehra met with France
Gelinas, NDP Health Critic, by phone call on
March 4 regarding our home care report and
asked for her help to raise it in the
Legislature.
We also convened an emergency Home Care
Meeting March 21 attended by much of our Board of Directors as well as Professors Pat & Hugh
Armstrong and three representatives from CareWatch. In that meeting, we agreed to join initiatives to
critique the government’s expert panel report and push for our recommendations for public nonprofit home care.
We met with Health Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins on March 25 on this issue. We also met NDP MPP Lisa
Gretzky and supported her in a media conference at Queen’s Park calling for home care coverage to
continue while appeals for service cuts-offs are conducted.
We issued a media release immediately following the release of the government expert panel’s
report on home care, giving an initial analysis. We then issued a longer analysis in response to the
Minister’s home care plan. Several members of the OHC Board attended a meeting with Kevin Smith
and the project leads at St. Joseph’s in Hamilton to investigate the integrated comprehensive care
model that they have developed.
At the request of the Nova Scotia Health Coalition, OHC executive director Natalie Mehra published
an Op Ed warning against competitive bidding for the Halifax Chronicle.
Long-Term Care
In the early summer, we organized a 24town giant rocking chair tour. Volunteers
Peter Boyle, Tom Carrothers and Don Arkell
toured with a more than 10-foot tall rocking
chair, holding media events across Ontario.
We received good media coverage in
virtually all the locations. All media
coverage was positive towards our issues.
Several local MPPs come out along with
mayors, reeves and municipal politicians in
various communities. We produced a new
set of long-term care postcards and have
collected thousands that were distributed
along the tour.
Giant rocking chair in Sturgeon Falls
In October, we held a beautiful ceremony
outside Queen’s Park in remembrance of
those impacted by violence in Ontario’s
long-term care homes. Twenty-five wreaths
were laid along with pink carnations in
remembrance for those who have been
killed or suffered harm. The very visual
event was covered by CP24, and many of
the 300-plus attendees gave positive
feedback about the creative and moving
event. In the lead-in to the event, we did a
phone-in show with Goldhawk on Zoomer
Radio and CHCH Square Off.
Giant Rocking Chair in Ingersoll
Memorial Event for those affected by increasing violence in
Ontario’s long-term care homes outside the Legislature
Ontario Budget
The OHC organized local coalitions in Sudbury, Ottawa, Cornwall,
London and Niagara to apply for standing in the pre-budget
hearings held by the Legislative Committee on Finance and
Economic Affairs. We also applied for standing as did the Older
Canadians Network. We organized a special meeting to coordinate
a common set of demands for the budget to facilitate preparation
of our budget submission. OHC executive director Natalie Mehra
presented to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic
Affairs in the Toronto Pre-Budget Hearing on January 29. She was
invited to the Speaker’s Gallery to watch the Budget Speech by Jim
Wilson, Interim PC leader. We participated in the budget lock-up,
sent out a media release, attended the budget speech, and held a
special conference call to brief the local health coalitions, a
number of which held budget watch events and garnered local
coverage. The pre-budget media work helped to put hospital care
cuts on the media agenda this year.
Private Clinics
We put up a billboard in London Ontario on
the off-ramp from Hwy 401 to Highbury Ave. in
opposition to for-profit privatization of our
hospital services. In response to our pressure,
the Minister of Health has halted the plan for
the Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs)
to systematically contract out cataract
surgeries, colonoscopies, endoscopies, and
ultimately all diagnostics and day surgeries to
private clinics. This is a significant victory.
However, the existing private clinics are still expanding their scopes, and direct patient billing for
cataract surgeries and unnecessary add-ons, as well as colonoscopies and endoscopies is now
epidemic.
Students for Medicare
With a class at the University of Toronto, we organized reports on hospital cuts and private clinics.
One of the student groups held a Home Care reform panel March 2 at the University of Toronto did a
media launch of the home care report. We held lobby meetings with the students on these issues
with MPPs France Gelinas on March 21 and March 25, and Peter Tabuns on March 25.
National Issues
March 31 Federal Health Accord
In partnership with the Council of Canadians and CUPE, we held rallies at federal Conservative MPs’
offices to mark the one-year anniversary of the death of the Federal Health Accord in Stratford,
Windsor, North Bay, Scarborough, and Brampton. We called on the Harper government to renew the
Accord and uphold single-tier Medicare in Canada.
National Lobby Day
We organized volunteers to attend a national lobby and conference in Ottawa. Volunteers met with
dozens of MPs to raise the key issues identified by the Health Coalition, including a national drug
program for all, and improvements to home and long-term care.
The Federal Election
We worked hard to warn Ontarians about the impending cuts being planned for health care by the
Harper government, and to raise the profile of the key health care issues, including national
pharmacare, home and continuing care, upholding the Canada Health Act and stopping privatization
and extra-billing of patients. Health coalition volunteers across Ontario distributed 150,000 leaflets
and 20,000 postcards door-to-door, and we worked with local coalitions to hold all-candidates
meetings in Sarnia, Chatham, on Walpole Island, in London, in Ottawa, and Niagara. The Windsor
Health Coalition organized a lawn sign campaign and leaflet distribution in their community.