OHC Health Action Assembly - Saturday, November 13, 10:30 am - 4:30 pm, Steelworkers' Hall, 33 Cecil Street, Toronto - join us to set the strategy for hospitals, stopping privatization, homecare, long term care, primary care reform, access to health services. Registration fee $0 - $35 pay-as-you-can. Registration form is below.

Alliance of Seniors to Protect Canada's Social Programs- October 20, 1 - 4 pm. Forum featuring Shirley Douglas and Hon. Roy Romanow on "Can You Afford to Grow Older?", City Council Chambers, Toronto City Hall.

Building Links for Better Mental Health - November 3 & 4, 2004, November 3: Registration at 6 p.m. Theatre presentation at 7:30 p.m. November 4: Registration at 8 a.m. TORONTO COURTYARD MARRIOTT HOTEL

475 Yonge Street (1 bl. N. of College) $25.00 or pay-what-you-can. OHC & OPSEU. Registration form is below.

> The OHC has released a preliminary analysis of the cost of the Brampton P3 deal (on our website). Among the major findings:

The deal will cost over $2.6 billion

Due to the higher borrowing costs the Brampton P3 will cost at least $124 million more than if it were public

The deal includes privatization of services, hospital grounds and the facility for over 25 years.

A complete financial analysis will be released soon.

> The Calgary Hospital P3 has been cancelled. In a Calgary Sun interview the hospital CEO criticized P3s and said the hospital will be built publicly.

> In response to the legal challenge and community pressure, the Royal Ottawa Hospital has disclosed some documents relating to their proposed P3. We will be releasing an analysis of this disclosure as soon as possible.

> So far, no deals have been signed in Ontario. The Brampton hospital hopes to complete their P3 deal by October 15. Action plans and more information will be released shortly.

In the provincial budget, the government announced the de-listing of Schedule 5 Physiotherapy, Optometry and Chiropratic services. The following is an excerpt from our letter to the government on this issue.

"We are writing to express our concern about the announced de-listing of physiotherapy, optometry and chiropractic services in the provincial budget. Members of your government have frequently expressed support for the recommendations of the Romanow Commission. Mr. Romanow, however, noted in his report that de-listing is a false economy. It simply shifts costs for health services from government to individuals, who may or may not be able to afford them, thus denying needed therapy to those with low incomes. And it will certainly increase the costs of health plans to the detriment of those enrolled, and may well shift costs to more expensive parts of the health care system. We are particularly concerned about the following:

De-listing of Schedule Five Physiotherapy Services

Physiotherapy is essential for rehabilitation after orthopedic injury, as well as producing better outcomes for chronic conditions. For seniors it also serves a health promotion and preventive function, often postponing or even preventing the need for joint replacement surgery.

Your action adds to the harm already done by the previous government's de-listing, the shrinking of access to hospital physiotherapy services through hospital load-shedding and the increasingly narrow CCAC eligibility criteria for services, and reductions in rehabilitation services in long term care facilities.

We are particularly concerned about the needs of elderly residents of long term care facilities as well as the needs of the ambulatory elderly and persons with low incomes who require physiotherapy services.

De-listing of Optometry Services

Delisting of optometry services will have a similar impact on those with low incomes, making eye exams inaccessible for many.

De-listing of Chiropractic Services

Chiropractic services provide pain control for millions of Ontarians. We are concerned that the delisting of these services will leave many without options for effective relief from chronic pain. We are also concerned that this delisting will shift the burden to emergency rooms and scarce local physicians·.

·.We believe that these important health services should be provided on a public, non-profit basis as follows:

~ Comprehensive medically-necessary physiotherapy services should be covered by OHIP and delivered publicly with a standard level of service, based on need, in an appropriate setting.

~ Optometry services should be re-listed.

~ Medically-necessary, clinically effective chiropractic services should be re-listed.

~ The process to determine what is covered should be transparent and consultative."

In July the Ontario Government announced it would transform the province's health system by creating 12 or more "Local Health Integration Systems" (LHINS). Despite the fact that this is extremely important to patients and health care workers, there has been no public consultation and, to date, very limited information has been released. So far, the government has said that the LHINS will plan, coordinate and fund local health service delivery along set geographic boundaries. They are not supposed to directly provide services as the regional health authorities do in other provinces. On September 9, Health Minister George Smitherman announced that the LHINS are to be launched on October 6 and implemented completely by March 2007. We have outlined our questions and concerns about these plans in the following letter to the government. We encourage members and supporters to bring these issues to your local MPP.

Excerpt from OHC letter to Ministry of Health:

"We are writing to express some initial questions and to request more information and a meeting with you at your earliest convenience regarding the proposed Local Health Integration Networks (LIHNs)·.

....We are concerned about the limited consultation that is proposed regarding this transformation of the health system. We strongly encourage the Ministry to broaden and extend the planned consultations. We also strongly encourage a principled approach to health reform that is based on a foundation of democratic, non-profit governance and delivery, meaningful public consultation and support for the principles of the Canada Health Act.

We have several questions about the proposed initiative that we would like to discuss with you including the following:

- what models of regionalization and integration has the Ministry considered?

- who has been consulted to date?

- will the LHINs be not-for-profit/public agencies?

- will there be elected democratic community governance of the LHINs?

- what are the intended goals?

- will the LHINs eliminate competitive bidding for homecare?

- what impact will the LHINs have on privatized health services and P3s?

- what is the intended scope of the LHINs? How will their responsibilities compare with those of CCACs, hospital boards, long term care facility boards, and District Health Councils?

- will the LHINs be responsible for capital costs for facilities, equipment and technology?

- what will be the impact of LHINs on collective bargaining and union representation?

We look forward to your response to these questions. We would like to also request the background documents regarding this proposal."

On September 9 Health Minister George Smitherman announced that the "competitive bidding" system that has promoted the privatization of homecare services will be independently reviewed. Several recent events have contributed to this decision:

- Ottawa CCAC put under review by the province in response to complaints about reductions in homecare services and the cost of contracting out services. The full report has been completed and is available on the ministry website at: http://www.health.gov.on.ca/ under "September 7 Operational Review of Ottawa CCAC"

- Recently, contracts for non-profit homecare services have lost leading to disruption for patients and workers in Niagara, Ottawa and East York, Toronto. Hundreds have joined rallies in St. Catharines, Ottawa and Toronto, letters to local newspapers and the ministry have ensued. Community agencies are calling for a moratorium on private for-profit delivery in homecare.

November 3: Registration at 6 p.m. Theatre presentation at 7:30 p.m.

November 4: Registration at 8 a.m.

475 Yonge Street (1 bl. N. of College)

$25.00 or pay-what-you-can

The Toronto Courtyard Marriott has set aside a block of rooms for conference participants at a special rate of $119.00. This rate is for single and double occupancy. Reservations are to be made directly with the hotel. When making your reservation, please say you are with the OPSEU mental health conference.

Toronto Courtyard Marriott Hotel
475 Yonge Street,
Toronto, Ontario M4Y 1X7

1 800 847-5075

fax: 416 924-1413

Sponsored by the Ontario Health Coalition and

Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU)

Share information regarding planned healthcare restructuring

Set priorities and strategies for winning improvements to our public medicare system including:

Stopping P3s and hospital privatization

Improving conditions for people needing & working in homecare and long-term care

Improving access to primary healthcare and other health services

Improving mental health services

Stopping delisting and improving OHIP coverage

Improving democracy within the health system

Ontario Health Coalition

15 Gervais Drive, Ste. 305

Toronto, ON M3C 1Y8

Tel: 416.441.2502 Fax: 416.441.4073