Webinar: Stopping runaway privatization of health care in Canada
In Alberta, the premier wants to transfer ownership of hospitals to private, for-profit operators. A growing number of clinics nationwide are selling MRI scans and surgeries—services once considered primarily the purview of the public health care sector—to those who can pay out of pocket.
Join Canadian Health Coalition’s Anne Lagacé Dowson for an online conversation about halting the privatization of health care with Ontario Health Coalition’s Natalie Mehra, Andrew Longhurst and Canadian Doctors for Medicare’s Dr. Melanie Bechard on Tuesday, July 15 at 12:00 PM ET.
When: Tuesday, July 15 at 12:00 PM ET
Natalie Mehra is the executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition, which is made of more than 400 community organizations. The Ontario Health Coalition made complaints the Ontario and federal governments on behalf of 50 people who were made to feel pressured by private ophthalmologists to pay out of pocket for so called faster or better care.
Andrew Longhurst is a political economist and health policy researcher, and PhD candidate at Simon Fraser University, and research associate with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. His recent publications include At What Cost? Ontario Hospital Privatization and the Threat to Public Health Care (CCPA-Ontario, 2023) and Operation Profit: Private Surgical Contracts Deliver Higher Costs and Longer Waits (Parkland Institute, 2025).
Dr. Melanie Bechard is the chair of Canadian Doctors for Medicare and a Pediatric ER doctor at the Children’s Hospital of Easter Ontario, and an Assistance Professor at the University of Ottawa. The Canadian Doctors for Medicare is dedicated to strengthening and preserving Canada’s publicly-funded health care system.
Upcoming webinars:
July 28 at 12:00 PM ET: Continuing the fight for pharmacare, breaking the grip of big pharma with Dr. Joel Lexchin and Sharon Batt. Register for the Zoom link here.
Webinars are recorded for later viewing on the Canadian Health Coalition’s Youtube channel.
For more information, contact Tracy at tglynn@healthcoalition.ca.
