Hospital workers rallied in Stoney Creek on Tuesday amid the Ontario government’s plans to use public funding to pay for treatments within private facilities.
The protest comes as Health Minister Silvia Jones announced another plan to expand pharmacists’ powers.
READ MORE: Ontario looks to widen pharmacists’ powers to treat more illnesses
The Ford government says its plan to add 100,000 MRIs and CT scans would reduce wait times, but healthcare and union workers believe it would push public healthcare towards privatization.
“We need more funding for nurses,” one protestor told CHCH News. “We need to be bringing our nurses back and not contracting out to agencies who don’t know what they’re doing.”
Last month, the province announced its plans to nearly double the amount of publicly funded MRIs and CT scans made available by using private clinics as part of a broader plan that would expand services like cataract surgeries as well as knee and hip replacements.
“We know there will always be those that stand ideologically opposed to innovation in the health care system,” a spokesperson from the Ministry of Health told CHCH News.
“Our government is making bold and innovative changes to connect more people to the care they need, when they need it.”