Overview
- Applications opened July 2 for privately operated orthopedic centres to join the OHIP system under the Ford government’s reform plan.
- The program carries a $125 million public investment aimed at delivering 20,000 additional joint replacement and other orthopedic procedures over two years.
- Centres awarded licenses must treat all OHIP-covered patients and are prohibited from levying extra fees for faster service or refusing care based on upgrade purchases.
- This phase follows June’s approval of 57 private MRI, CT and endoscopy clinics under the same publicly funded model.
- The expansion fulfills Bill 60, passed in May 2023, which set a long-term blueprint for shifting select non-emergency surgeries from hospitals to private clinics to cut wait lists.