MEDIA RELESE:
May 28, 2002 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Private For-Profit Hospitals Have Higher Death Rates
A Canadian Medical Association Journal report released today shows that private for-profit hospitals
lead to an increased number of deaths in comparison to private not-for-profit hospitals.
"We conducted a systematic review of the highest quality studies that compared death rates of U.S.
Medicare patients receiving care in private for-profit hospitals to private not-for-profit hospitals.
We found 15 studies that looked at over 26,000 hospitals and 38 million patients.
The findings are consistent and unequivocal: death rates are higher in private for-profit hospitals, "
said Dr. P.J. Devereau, health researcher at McMaster University, who conducted the review with a research team.
The Ontario Coalition of Senior Citizens' Organizations (OCSCO) considers health a priority issue for
the seniors they represent. OCSCO is a provincial seniorsÕ organization whose mission is to improve
the quality of life for OntarioÕs seniors. Over 130 seniorsÕ organizations are members who represent
over 500,000 senior citizens from across Ontario.
While most Canadians think of local hospitals as public, they are actually private not-for-profit
institutions owned and administered by communities, religious institutions, regional health authorities,
or their boards of directors. Thus, the study results are directly applicable to the Canadian scene.
Dr. Devereaux provided an explanation for the results: "Typically, investors expect a 10%-15% return on their investment.
This money must be extracted from patient care. This means less skilled personnel, inlcuding board certified physicians,
nurses, and pharmacists. Care suffers, and death rates increase."
"The results suggest that if Canada switched from private not-for-profit hospitals to private for-profit hospitals,
the result would be over 2,000 additional deaths each year," Dr. Devereaux said. He further explained that this
is in the range of the number of Canadians who die each from colon cancer, motor vehicle accidents, or suicide.
According to Dr. Devereaux, switching to for-profit hospital care would have the impact of "creating a new cancer."
Click here to read OCSCO's BACKGROUNDER on this issue.
Contact:
Ethel Meade, Co-Chair, OCSCO - 416-785-8570
Gisela Côté, Manager of Communications, OCSCO - 416-785-8570
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