The Commitment to the Future of Medicare Act (2004), ak.a. Bill 8, makes it illegal for hospitals in Ontario to run operating budget deficits. Last week, the Ontario Health Coalition released a report that found that half the hospitals in this province are indeed in the red.

Spokesperson Natalie Mehra was quoted in the Globe and Mail on December 2, saying “Ontario spends $100 less per capita on hospitals than other provinces do.”

Often, when I’ve spoken to health care insiders on what reforms are needed in the system, many lament that some much-needed reforms are costly at the front end, in other to provide efficiency in the system down the road. That’s why Ontarians are still without electronic health records.

Another detriment to reform is that hospitals are the hub of health care today and eat up much of the health care budget. And still, according to Mehra, it’s not enough.

You can’t turn away people who show up in emergency. You can’t control when and where Ontarians need acute or critical care. But that’s why our health care system is really an acute care system — not one that promotes health and prevents illness among Ontarians.

What do you think?