MEDIA ADVISORY: New Report Tracking Under-Used Hospitals, Deficits, Cuts & Inequities in Health Care Across Ontario

Attn: Assignment Editor/News Desk

TORONTO, Sept. 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Ford government has continued to expand its privatization of local public hospitals' services. A raft of new private clinics is planned this year, and with it, hundreds of millions in new public funding to expand the privatization. At the same time, the Ford government has deliberately curtailed public hospital budgets, pushing local hospitals into deficit and forcing cuts. The Ontario Health Coalition researched the under-use of local hospital MRIs and operating rooms and local public hospital deficits and cuts, and compared them to funding increases for private clinics. The Coalition located the private clinics and compared them to the locations of the public hospitals. In addition, the Coalition researched the data on wait lists and collected patient stories about extra-billing and user charges at the private clinics. The results are published in a new report to be released Tuesday.

On Tuesday September 15, local press conferences are being held as follows:

• Kingston: 10 am at Lake Ontario Park by the pavilion, 920 King St W
• Sault Ste Marie: 10 am via Zoom here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81529630650?pwd=U1quGeo4LQraDjqfq3wnWbb84Pb0Ok.1
• London: 10:30 am in front of Laser Vision London, 1695 Wonderland Rd N
• Oshawa: 11 am at Alexandra Park across from Lakeridge Health Oshawa, 65 Buckingham Ave
• Toronto: 12 pm in front of Main Legislative Building at Queen’s Park, 111 Wellesley St W
• Walkerton: 12:30 pm at Market Garden Park, 312 Durham St
• Windsor: 1 pm at Gino and Liz Marcus Community Centre, Drouillard Room, 1168 Drouillard Rd
• Thunder Bay: 3 pm outside MPP Kevin Holland's office, 774 James St N

The report contains local information for the following communities:

• NORTH: Kenora, North Bay, Sault Ste Marie, Sudbury, Thunder Bay
• EAST: Belleville, Brockville, Cobourg, Cornwall, Ottawa
• CENTRAL: Grey County - Owen Sound, Simcoe County - Barrie, Collingwood, Midland, Orillia
• PETERBOROUGH & THE KAWARTHAS: Huntsville, Lindsay, Peterborough
• TORONTO & THE GTA: Ajax, Brampton, Burlington, East York, Etobicoke, Mississauga, Markham, Newmarket, Oshawa, Richmond Hill, Toronto, Vaughan
• HAMILTON & NIAGARA: Hamilton, Niagara Falls, St. Catharines
• WEST: Cambridge, Chatham, Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo, Leamington, London, Orangeville, Palmerston, Sarnia, St. Thomas, Stratford, Windsor
  

For more information: Natalie Mehra, executive director, Ontario Health Coalition, cell 416-230-6402.