In a scathing letter to Ontario's Premier and Health Minister, Hamilton Centre MPP Andrea Horwath sounds a call to action and gives voice to Hamilton's widespread anger and frustration over the loss of not-for-profit home care services. About 1500 people crammed a banquet hall for a rally on January 16 ready to fight to restore VON and St. Joseph's Health Care as Hamilton's major home care and community nursing provider.

January 15, 2008

Dear Premier McGuinty and Minister Smitherman,

You are very aware of the maelstrom that has hit the Hamilton community as a result of your government’s refusal to end cutthroat bidding in the home care and community nursing sectors. It’s a far cry from the host of health care promises you made in Hamilton when you were campaigning for re-election.

As you know, two vital not-for-profit agencies with long, proud records of providing outstanding, quality care to patients in Hamilton-Niagara have been disqualified from bidding on the new contract. People are disgusted and angered by this. They are very satisfied with the community-based home care services provided by the non-profits: VON and St. Joseph’s. Patients benefit from the continuity of care delivered by these highly skilled and dedicated nurses working in the not-for-profit sector. It’s what keeps home care clients out of hospitals and other health care facilities and enhances their health outcomes.

Non-profits are the most cost-effective deliverers of home care. Unlike commercial home care corporations, the non-profits don’t skim from government funding to find profits for their corporate investors and shareholders. Clearly, the not-for-profits offer the best value-for-money advantage, yet they are being shunned by the Community Care Access Centre, which is obligated by law to follow your cutthroat bidding process, no matter how flawed.

I can’t emphasize more strongly the consternation this is causing across our city. The citizenry is outraged and they are demanding corrective action from the McGuinty Liberals. The blame rests with you for failing to keep our community nursing sector strong and viable by ending cutthroat bidding in the home care sector

Hiding behind the Local Health Integration Network or CCAC does nothing to solve this debacle. What the public expects is real action from your government, namely, a permanent end to cutthroat bidding and a stop to the further privatization of our healthcare system.

Your lack of action is as deleterious to the future quality of home care in Hamilton as it is detrimental to the system province-wide. The existing critical shortage of community nurses will only worsen as we see them leave a system that treats them with such blatant disregard. The erosion may have begun here, but will be happening everywhere else across the province. With this letter I am serving notice that Ontario’s NDP will fight you every step of the way.

Hamilton has a unique role of being the first to say loud and clear to your government, 'We don't want this.'

Messrs. McGuinty and Smitherman, you sailed into Hamilton making sweeping promises about preserving quality health care services for patients in this region leading up to the last election. I urge you to live up to your word for a change.