Researchers to explain the growing threat of private equity in health care in Canada
There’s nothing stopping private equity firms from making profits from the sick and injured in Canada, but should there be?
One private equity firm is making money from 53 operating rooms in six provinces in Canada. Kensington Capital Partners through its subsidiary Clearpoint Health Network owns the for-profit surgical centres. A 2023 CBC Toronto investigation found that the Ontario government had paid Clearpoint’s facilities significantly more for public procedures in their centre than in public hospitals.
Researchers studying the phenomenon point to adverse patient health outcomes and higher costs to the system. Learn more about private equity investment in Canada’s health care system and what can be done about it at a research roundtable on the profitization of health care in Canada this October.
The day-long research roundtable at the University of Ottawa on October 23 is being organized by the Canadian Health Coalition and the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Health Law, Policy and Ethics.
The research roundtable will feature a panel with the country’s researchers on the financialization of health care. Space is limited and early registrations are encouraged. Registration deadline is September 30.
Speaking on the panel is Matthew Tracey, Edward Xie and Susan Braedley.
Matthew Tracey is a registered nurse and PhD candidate at the Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Tracey is among the researchers examining financial actors in Canada’s health care system.
“Evidence generally demonstrates that health services acquired by financial actors have higher service costs, higher rates of adverse outcomes, and poorer quality ratings when compared to non-acquired services. Furthermore, cases of service closures and bankruptcies have raised concerns about the stability of financialized systems,” notes Tracey.
Tracey will discuss trends in private equity and venture capital acquisitions in health care and the challenges posed for governance. He will discuss options for addressing the financialization of Canadian health care.
Joining Tracey on the panel is Edward Xie, an emergency physician and clinician investigator at University Health Network. Xie is also an assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto and a PhD candidate in Health Systems Research.
Xie will discuss the Canadian Doctors for Medicare’s position on private equity investment in Canadian health care. The Canadian Doctors for Medicare oppose private equity investment firms delivery of medically necessary, publicly funded health care.
Around the world, private equity firms are increasingly taking ownership of the health care sector, including in Canada. Xie will examine how private equity firms are influencing clinician behaviour and patient health outcomes.
Also on the panel is Susan Braedley, a professor at the School of Social Work and Institute of Political Economy at Carleton University. A researcher of long-term care, she is co-editor with Pat Armstrong of the 2023 book, Care Homes in a Turbulent Era: Do They Have a Future?
Braedley will examine for-profit ownership in long-term care and what it means for accountability, transparency and public oversight. She will draw on case examples from Ontario. She will propose policy alternatives to address concerns in the immediate and longer term.
Future blog posts will feature other researchers presenting at this year’s research roundtable.
