News Releases    

 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 22, 2003

OPSEU, Health Coalition expose web of lies on private MRI, CT scan plans

KINGSTON, TORONTO - The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) and the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) say the Conservatives have woven a web of lies to justify a wave of new private Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computerized Tomography (CT) clinics.

OPSEU and the OHC held joint news conferences today in Toronto and Kingston to hold the government to account for its deceptions on the issue of private diagnostic clinics.

“The Ministry of Health line that the private sector can do CT and MRI scans faster and 36 per cent cheaper is a complete fabrication,” said OPSEU President Leah Casselman. “The Minister has never explained this figure. They don’t know. These companies will need to pay trained staff better than they are paid in public hospitals in order to poach them. They have to set up facilities and pay rent, and they plan to make a profit so this 36 per cent figure is wrong.”

In Kingston, OPSEU spokesperson Aimee Axler said the MRI machine at Kingston General Hospital runs for 9 hours a day instead of the usual 17 because of personnel shortages. Despite this, the government has authorized a private MRI service for Kingston.

Casselman said the government is lying about the real reason for waiting times for MRI and CT scans.” The real problem is not lack of machines in the public system - the real problem is there is not enough staff to operate those machines around the clock.”

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For more information:

David Cox, OPSEU Communications, 416-443-8888 x314
Natalie Mehra, Ontario Health Coalition 416-441-2502
Ross Sutherland, Kingston Health Coalition 613 - 374-5211