Health Minister talks reduced wait times with surgeries in private clinics

The Ford Tories are planning to expand surgeries and procedures at private clinics. It’s not known exactly how close these clinics will be to us, but even if they’re in larger centres, the hope is wait times will be cut down.

Health Minister Sylvia Jones says patients waiting for some of the procedures like knee and hip surgeries, won’t have to worry about a drop in quality.

The government has tabled legislation to expand the role of community clinics, with critics worrying its inching us closer to privatizing health care.

The Government says that’s not true and patients in the province will have all the procedures covered by OHIP.

Jones says people shouldn’t have to wait for months for diagnostic tests or surgeries that can be performed at the clinic.

That doesn’t mean they’ll keep adding clinics until wait lists don’t exist though.

There are still a number of unanswered questions that we hope to learn more about soon, like how close a clinic will be to us, and who will inspect them to make sure they’re up to snuff.