Hospitals could face higher municipal taxes
Ontario municipalities may have a legitimate beef with the way hospitals pay taxes, but the timing couldn’t be worse. All levels of government appear to be scrambling to make ends…
opseudiablogue
Refugee Health: The Harper government blinks
The Harper government blinked this week. Determined to bulldoze through unpopular cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) for refugees, the government partially backed off claiming they were simply…
Private health care: Placing children at risk to increase profit
You have to wonder how executives at GlaxoSmithKline sleep at night? Yesterday the British drug manufacturer agreed to a civil settlement with the U.S. Government in which they will pay…
Saturday Diablogue story pile-up
In sports they call it plays of the week. For us, it’s just our way to address the pile up of issues surrounding health care this week. Labour issues are…
Hospitals to compete on cost as province introduces new funding mechanisms
In March Deb Matthews told the media that 36 hospitals will have their budgets cut by as much as three per cent when this year’s new hospital funding formula rolls…
Tories use think tank notorious for fabricating evidence to support white paper
It is interesting that the Ontario Tories quote the Pacific Research Institute in this week’s white paper on labour. In the paper, the Tories say the average yearly economic growth…
Ontario PC white paper plans to take labour legislation back to the 19th century
The Ontario PCs have staked out a far-right position on labour with the release Wednesday of their white paper “Paths to Prosperity: Flexible Labour Markets.” For Ontario’s heavily organized health…
Hospital CEO resigns after board rejects “improvement” plan
Staff of the Perth and Smiths Fall District Hospital were told today CEO Todd Stepaniuk has resigned. Stepaniuk, who helmed the organization for 12 years, appears to have lost a…
Could it happen here? P3 hospital costs leading to meltdown of health care in the UK
If you wanted to see the future of Ontario’s health care, there used to be a time when you could simply fly to Tony Blair’s Britain and have a look.…
Press conference aborted after doc asks question about cuts to refugee health plan
University Health Network CEO Bob Bells tried to apologize after a doctor and a medical student interrupted a press conference by Federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver at the Toronto…
Technology: Will docs battle Watson for your diagnosis?
Healthcare has always experienced a love-hate relationship with technology. New technologies have certainly both contributed to costs and reduced costs. There has been considerable literature on how expensive new technologies…
Operation Maple: Funny video looks at ways public services touch our lives
Operation Maple are at it again. Interviewing people on the street of Toronto, several claimed that they “don’t use public services.” Oh really? Upbeat and funny, the video looks at…
Changes to Interim Federal Health plan places communities at risk — AMMI
Changes to the Interim Federal Health plan for refugees may result in higher costs and place communities at risk says the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada (AMMI).…
PSW registry up and running despite unresolved key issues
Health Minister Deb Matthews rose in the legislature to announce June 13 the new PSW Registry is up and running. Initially PSWs (Personal Support Workers) in the home care sector…
Are “high hazard” nursing homes “efficient?”
In BC they have a ratings system for residential care homes, or what we would refer to as “long-term care” homes in Ontario. The ratings look at complaints and critical…
Seniors’ Care: What a difference an Ombudsperson can make
In February the British Columbia government received a 216-page report on seniors care. In it are 176 recommendations covering home care, assisted living and residential care. It is the second…
Ontario has fewer nursing home inspectors than U.S. States
Ontario fares poorly compared to other jurisdictions when it comes to inspecting its 641 nursing homes. Last week we pointed out the impossibility of about 70 nursing home inspectors being…
New Operation Maple video highlights corporate tax evasion
Thirty Fortune 500 companies didn’t pay any tax in the last three years. Ever wonder why corporations continue to pay less or no tax while governments become more and more…
Summer election may be fought over sneaky clause in budget bill
Dalton McGuinty is threatening to pull the plug on his own government after the opposition parties amended his budget bill yesterday in the legislature’s finance committee. Like the Harper government…
MPP Bill Mauro introduces 2,000 signature petition to Ontario legislature
Liberal MPP Bill Mauro introduced a 2,000-signature petition into the Ontario legislature today calling upon the government to use its influence to reopen the Canadian Blood Services Thunder Bay Plasma…