Latest investment in private health care in P.E.I. raising concerns
CBC
The P.E.I. government's decision to invest $25 million into for-profit long-term care facilities is raising concerns about the further privatization of the health-care system.
Currently, there is a mix of private and public long-term care facilities on P.E.I. The province said it needed to add 54 new long-term care beds as soon as possible, and the private sector could get the job done faster.
Pat Armstrong, a member of the Canadian Health Coalition who has written cautionary books on the privatization of health care, said the province should have invested in the public beds rather than turning to the private sector.
"Their objective is to make a profit and the money going to profit is not going to care," Armstrong said.
Three years ago, an internal government report on long-term care found private homes paid workers less and provided fewer care options than public manors.
The same report said P.E.I. needed hundreds more long-term care beds.
Other examples of the privatization of health care include:
NDP Leader Michelle Neill is also raising concerns about the increasing reliance on private, for-profit health care in P.E.I.
"We want to make sure that any kind of expansion goes through the public health-care system and the public long-term care system," she said. "That way there's full accountability for all of those funds."
In a statement, Health P.E.I. said it's doing what it can to deal with staff shortages, and that "it is crucial to maintain publicly funded services that are high quality, accessible, and provide value for money."
But the statement didn't say if it matters whether that public funding goes to a public or private facility.
Armstrong said it does matter.
"If [private care homes] are no longer making a profit, then it makes sense for them to close down, especially if ... they are on valuable property that would be attractive to other investors."
Armstrong will be speaking at a lecture April 23 at Colonel Gray High School in Charlottetown titled Profiting from Care; What's the Problem. It is hosted by the P.E.I. Health Coalition.
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