WATCH: Ontario tables health bill to expand private clinic procedures

Ontario’s health minister has tabled legislation that would allow the province to expand private clinics in the public health-care system.

Sylvia Jones introduced the bill last month, prompting opposition parties and some health-care advocates to criticize the role of for-profit clinics.

Jones says patients at the clinics, including new facilities that will perform hip and knee surgeries, will not have to pay out of pocket. Instead, the procedures will continue to be publicly funded.

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She says the bill will enable the province to designate “expert organizations” to inspect the clinics, but the provincial government hasn’t yet decided who those organizations will be.

The province says it is “exploring several options” for that, including the current regulatory colleges.

Clinics would be required to provide details of infection prevention and control policies, as well as a staffing plan “to protect the stability of doctors, nurses and other health-care workers at public hospitals.”

Jones is expected to discuss this legislation in a press conference at 4 p.m. Tuesday at Queen’s Park.

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