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Timmins, Ont. – The McGuinty Liberals are proposing massive changes to the way hospital, long-term care, home care and community social services are funded and delivered in Ontario. The government intends to pass legislation that will create 14 new regional health structures called Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs) across the province. Through the LHINs, the province intends to merge and redistribute regionally the funding and delivery of health care and some social services.

The proposed LHINs cover large geographic areas, and the Liberals readily admit that the health and community social services currently provided locally will be spread out over the entire LHIN area. The government calls the merging of services, “integration.” But health and social service workers in Northern Ontario are cautioning that the changes and “integration,” proposed through the LHINs, will compromise the quality of health care and social services, and make it harder for people in Northern Ontario to access already scarce health services.

In Northern Ontario, where access to services is already a concern, merging and integrating more health services will pose incredible barriers for patients as they will have to travel further to get the medical help they used to get closer to home,” says Michael Hurley, the president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU), hospital division of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in Ontario.

On November 3, Hurley will be joined by hospital, long-term care, home care and community social service workers from Northern Ontario at a media conference in Timmins to highlight the radical changes being proposed by the McGuinty Liberals under the LHINs.

  • WHO:

    Michael Hurley, president, OCHU/CUPE
    Marlene Izzard, president, CUPE 1623 (Sudbury Regional Hospital)
    Long-term care, and community social service workers from several
    Northern Ontario communities, including Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and North Bay

  • WHAT:
    Media Conference —
    Proposed changes to health services under a LHINs system

  • WHERE:
    Days Inn Hotel, 14 Mountjoy Street, Timmins, ON

  • WHEN:
    Thursday, November 3, 2005 — 10:00 a.m.
    (Media is welcome to attend the CUPE member workshop on the LHINs,
    ongoing at the same location from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.)

 -30-

For more information, please contact:

Michael Hurley
President, OCHU/CUPE
(416) 884-0770

Marlene Izzard
President, CUPE 1623
(705) 929-8457

Stella Yeadon
CUPE Communications
(416) 578-8774