94,000 Strong – Thanks So Much For Being Part Of Our Biggest Effort Yet To Save Hospital Services In Ontario!

A Message from the Ontario Health Coalition

Posted June 1^st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

Toronto, Ontario – An event this past Wednesday, May 31^st at Queen’s Park was the culmination of our Ontario-wide referendum that saw 94,000 Ontarians participate to save Ontario’s community hospital services.

Ontario Health Coalition director Natalie Mehra speaks at May 31st Queen’s Park rally for saving hospital services

Community representatives, concerned patients, and local health coalitions from all across the province gathered to deliver heaps of ballots to the Ontario Legislature.

Both Opposition Party Leaders, Ontario PC Leader Patrick Brown and Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath promised to take our demands to stop the cuts to community hospitals and restore services, funding, and staff to meet our communities’ needs for care, and make health care a key issue in the legislature.

Ontario Health Coalition executive director Natalie Mehra thanked the Opposition Leaders and promised the crowd that the OHC would continue to pressure all of the political parties to create a budget plan that would improve public hospital funding — and keep services in our local public community hospitals — and ensure that money goes to care and vital support services, not consultants and executives.

The OHC is asking all political parties to improve hospital funding in Ontario to the average of the country.

“This is a message that the government simply cannot ignore,” Natalie Mehra addressed a cheering crowd. “This has been a massive effort with 93,501 Ontarians voting yes to stop the cuts and restore services as of last night. Every few hours hundreds more votes are arriving at our office. The total count is now at more than 94,000 — 99.6% voting yes to stop cuts and restore services!”

Local coalitions from North Bay, Oshawa, Orillia, London, Windsor, Chatham-Kent, and Kawartha Lakes all took to the podium to share the overwhelming response to the referendum. “We are going to continue fighting this fight!”, Trish McAuliffe of the Durham Health Coalition said, as she encouraged the crowd to do the same.

We would like to extend our most heartfelt gratitude to all our our local health coalitions, all of our local campaign staff, all of our intrepid volunteers, and to all of you who participated in our biggest referendum yet.

We are 94,000 strong. Without you none of this would have been possible.

Ontario residents rallying to save hospital services this past May 31st in front of provincial legislature

About the Ontario Health Coaltion – The Ontario Health Coalition is comprised of a Board of Directors, committees of the Board as approved in the Coalition’s annual Action Plan, Local Coalitions, member organizations and individual members. Currently the Ontario Health Coalition represents more than 400 member organizations and a network of Local Health Coalitions and individual members.

For more information on the Ontario Health Coalition and its advocacy work for quality, public health care in Ontario click on – http://www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca/ .

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