FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 23, 2005
McGuinty must come
clean on details of the private hospital deals
TORONTO, SAULT STE. MARIE: The
Ontario Public Service Employees Union is asking Dalton
McGuinty to come clean on the real cost including the
financing details of the seven private (P3) hospitals he is
planning to build, including the one announced last week in
Sault Ste. Marie.
Study after study has shown
that so-called private-public-partnerships carry heavy
financing costs because the private sector usually pays more
to borrow money than governments do. An independent report in
2004 said that the planned P3 hospital in Brampton would cost
at least $175-million extra to build with private capital than
it would have as a fully publicly financed hospital.
“We know the borrowing costs
are higher with these P3 projects,” said OPSEU President Leah
Casselman. “We also know, from the experience in Britain,
Australia and elsewhere, that private hospitals also go hand
in hand with big company profits and reductions in patient
care.”
“What’s the fine print on the
deal?” asked Patty Rout, Chair of OPSEU’s Health Care Council.
“Will cost overruns be absorbed by the investors – or by the
public?”
Casselman says McGuinty has
broken his election promise not to build any private or P3
hospitals. “Given this broken promise, he still needs to
clearly explain to Ontarians how much extra it is going to
cost.”
“Let’s build the hospital now,”
she said. “But let’s do it the most cost-effective way – with
public financing.”
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For further information:
Patty Rout, Chair, OPSEU
Health Care Divisional Council, (905) 439-8044
or
Margaret Rafter, OPSEU Local
President, Sault Ste. Marie (705) 971-6146
