The privatization of Canadian health care is moving into high gear

Abstract

The future of Canada's public health care system has been the source of much debate in the past year. Several signs, ranging from laser-surgery clinics in Ontario to the possible opening of a new private hospital in Toronto, indicate that the trend toward privatization is growing. Dr. Hugh Scully, former chair of a CMA working group that looked at the issue, expects the trend toward privatization to continue because "it simply isn't the case that the coverage people have come to expect will continue to be provided through the public purse." Dr. Jeffery Machat, a laser-surgery specialist from Windsor, Ont., thinks privatization brings needed investment to Canada's health care system.