For Profit Companies Dominate Community Care Contracts
Community Care Contracts Decrease Funds for Direct Patient Care

 

 

The community health care contracts awarded on Jan 26 will see less money going to direct patient care and more to advertising, excess administration and system inefficiencies, says Natalie Mehra, co-chair of the Kingston Health Coalition.

 

We now have numerous different agencies competing for patients.  It is obvious that they will  putting extra money into advertizing. Companies now have to increase their brand recognition if they are going to increase their market share.  In the end this is all money that will come out of direct patient care . It is public health care dollars being spent on PR firms.

 

This waste of funds on marketing is added to the extra administration and inefficiencies inherent in a competitive bidding system,   The CCAC has a large staff of case managers, support staff and  managers, as do all the agencies.  Many of these people fo the same work for the same patients.  The CCAC and the agencies all run parallel systems for monitoring the same visits. With each agency operating separately there is a built in inability effectively assign staff resources.  All of this takes resources away from direct patient care.

 

To add insult to injury, in Kingston -- of-- agencies contacted to provide community health care services are for -profit companies.  Part of our health care dollars will be going to pay their owners and shareholders.

 

It is now possible to understand how the Province can be spending more money on community care but patients are receiving less care, and being put on waiting lists.