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Ontario Invites Private Clinics to Boost Orthopedic Surgeries Through OHIP

The Ford government has allocated $125 million to fund 20,000 procedures over two years to reduce wait times in the provincial health system.

Nearly 12,000 children are on a wait list for surgeries across Ontario, a situation that officials at four major pediatric hospitals say is part of a much bigger problem that they need help from the province to solve. An empty operating theatre is seen in Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children on Wednesday, November 30, 2022.
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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.