A race to the bottom? On blessings and curses.

Hospitals face push to compete for cash - Healthzone.ca

In contrast to the previous pre-election period -- where the Liberals briefly made nice with public health care advocates -- they appear determined to go in the opposite direction in this pre-election period. On long term care, they want to 'review funding' so as to increase the flexibility of the operators (many of whom are for-profit). Other than the operators, who called for this? Indeed, there are widespread calls that they actually require operators to ensure minimum staffing standards, rather than just throw cash at them.

Now, they are seriously investigating changing hospital funding to a market based price system, almost certainly opening the door to for-profit health care (and the threat for local communities that they will lose services with every new round of contracting).

Even Mike Harris didn't dare give the corporations such a blessing (and local communities such a curse). Are we seeing a turning point in Liberal health care fortunes?

dallan@cupe.ca

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