World Headlines: Are private surgery clinics the answer to Ontario's healthcare woes?

First Up

By Manuela Vega

Good morning. Here’s the latest on OPSEU suing three former leaders, Ontario’s plans for privately-run surgery clinics and the lack of warming centres for homeless Torontonians.

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OPSEU is suing three former leaders for $6 million in damages

One of the province’s largest unions alleges three of its former leaders withdrew $670,000 from a strike fund without explanation, received “significant compensation” in addition to their salaries and had union-purchased vehicles transferred to themselves and their families, Kristin Rushowy reports. The details are laid out in a statement of claim filed in Ontario’s Superior Court on Monday. The current president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, JP Hornick, told members in an email obtained by the Star that the statement of claim is “just a first step” and that the union “will not waver” in its commitment to seeking justice. Take a closer look at the details.

Context: The statement of claim names longtime president Warren (Smokey) Thomas, former first vice-president/treasurer Eduardo Almeida and the former administrator of the union’s financial services division, Maurice Gabay. Almeida and Gabay were not immediately available for comment, while a woman who answered the phone at Thomas’s home said he was not interested in speaking with the Star.
More: The allegations have not been proven in court. No statement of defence has been filed.

Canadian Press/Frank Gunn

health care

Premier Doug Ford has detailed the plan for privately run surgery clinics

In an attempt to ease the pandemic backlog — which amounts to 206,000 surgeries and diagnostic procedures — Ontario is moving thousands of procedures out of hospitals and into private clinics, the premier announced Monday. Ford added that the move, which he says is meant to free up time and space for more complex care in hospitals, will be permanent, Rob Ferguson reports. The controversial plan has raised concerns that doctors, nurses and other medical professionals will leave already-short-staffed hospitals in higher numbers. Here’s what you need to know about the debate surrounding the plans.

More: The plan won cautious endorsements from hospitals and medical groups, with Ontario Hospital Association president Anthony Dale saying “it is essential that the expanded use of community surgical centres into new clinical activity take place,” while noting there must be “risk management measures.”
Go deeper: Critics have warned that patients could face pressure to pay out of pocket for additional products and services not covered by the provincial health insurance plan.
Martin Regg Cohn’s take: Is Ford recklessly poisoning Ontario’s health-care system — or could he fix it?

Richard Lautens/Toronto Star File Photo

homelessness

The Toronto board of health is urging the city to open warming centres 24-7

Amid a surge of people desperately seeking warmth, losing limbs to frostbite and freezing to death, the public health board called the city’s cold-weather services for homeless Torontonians a “systemic failure” and urged the city to provide around-the-clock heat until mid-April. Right now, only three warming centres open when temperatures drop to -15 C. That’s down from as many as 40 during the height of the pandemic, David Rider and Alyshah Hasham report. Here’s how people experiencing homelessness are struggling to fight the cold — and what’s next.

Go deeper: The city’s director of homelessness initiatives and prevention services warned that two of the warming centres are not suitable for 24-hour occupation. He said his department was already tasked with reviewing cold-weather services and plans to report back with recommendations in April. A handful of councillors on the health board, however, said that timeline isn’t good enough.
Wait, what? One man vandalized a Walmart to get arrested, an ER physician said, adding: “He was brought to the emergency room in handcuffs by police and his only request was for food and shelter.”

Word from a city councillor: How Toronto’s budget fails to address our most urgent crisis.

WHAT ELSE

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ICYMI

Toronto Star Photo Illustration

Here’s what you need to know about new tax benefits for 2023.

CLOSE-UP

Michael Probst/AP Photo

GERMANY: A regional train approaches a railroad crossing between flooded fields in Nidderau-Eichen near Frankfurt on Monday.

Thank you for reading. You can reach me and the First Up team at firstup@thestar.ca. I’ll see you back here tomorrow.

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