Ford’s American-Style Health Care Model Is Hurting Niagara Families – NDP MPPs

A News Release from the Constituency Offices of Niagara Falls NDP MPP Wayne Gates and St. Catharines NDP MPP Jennie Stevens

Posted June 24^th, 2025 on Niagara At Large

Niagara Falls MP Wayne Gates and St. Catharines MP Jennie Stevens

NIAGARA, Ontario — NDP MPPs Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls) and Jennie Stevens (St. Catharines) are calling on the Ford government to immediately halt the expansion of private, for-profit health care in Ontario following a new report showing Niagara is being hit harder than almost anywhere else in the province.

“I stood up against Bill 60 from the start because I knew it would hurt our hospitals,” said Gates.

“Niagara’s getting hit hard — while urgent care centres in Fort Erie and Port Colborne shut down, ER wait times are too high, while public hospitals have lost staff to private clinics. Healthcare costs and wait times are being unfairly shifted onto patients, especially seniors on fixed incomes, who need it most.” 

“The Ford government has poured public money into private clinics while hospitals across Niagara remain understaffed and under-resourced,” said Stevens.

“This report makes it clear: privatization isn’t solving the health care crisis, it’s making it worse, especially for working-class people and seniors in our communities.”

BACKGROUND:

• * A report from the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (https://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/news/niagara-region/niagara-hard-hit-by-for-profit-health-care-says-cupe/article_6092241c-8e0a-5cec-ad4b-32179d14a0df.html) (OCHU) reveals that since the province began funding cataract surgeries in private clinics, wait times have increased, patients are paying out-of-pocket for care, and lower-income communities are being pushed to the back of the line.
• * Over 384,000 Niagara residents are impacted — nearly 80% of the region.
• * A recent poll found that 73% of Ontarians want public funding to go toward hospitals, not for-profit clinics. Two-thirds of Ontarians say it’s unacceptable for private clinics to charge for medically necessary services.
• * Gates and Stevens are calling on the Ford government to immediately stop diverting health care dollars to private clinics, and reinvest in public hospitals and staffing, including expanding surgical capacity within the public system.

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