Free services to the Poor at Ontario Lab Clinics - a thing of the Past Ontario has been closing it's lab test clinics, or letting them be privatized, and now Hamilton, which had the last three labs remaining in the Province has whittled it down to one, with the closing of the clinic at 25 Charlton. Patients are being directed to the Fontbonne clinic instead. This is drastic news for those on OW or ODSP who until now, were allowed tests at no cost to them, - OHIP was paying the full amount. For those living on low income, this move could spell disaster. Ed Zacharewski is the first vice president of OPSEU local 206 in Hamilton, which represents the Allied Health Professionals at St. Joseph's Health care, the Wellington psychiatric outreach program and Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital. He says a number of tests, in fact 198 of them cannot be taken without paying. He listed the clinic collection sites that were available as part of their health care programs were located on Fennel Avenue East, and upper Ottawa, 25 Charlton, and Cross St. in Dundas. Now patients have to travel into St Joseph's Hospital for any Doctor ordered tests. The closing of these clinics also means a loss of at least 15 jobs, and more than job losses, it means the experience those long time employees brought to the community will also be lost. According to Zacharewski, the Province of Alberta had gone to a privatized system , but the city of Calgary found that going private was not the answer. "Calgary found that the public is better served, and that publicly owned clinics are actually more cost effective." Zacharewski also pointed out that a public laboratory does make for a more seamless service. . This also means the client will have to pay from $35 and up for some very important tests. Some illnesses like schizophrenia need drugs like clozapine, which needs to be monitored weekly for white blood cell count. Every individual is different so there must be personal monitoring. As well, more specialists have been coming to Hamilton and that will mean more tests will be needed. Wait times will be much longer. Some tests are time sensitive, and some clients have told me that there are times where they have waited all day, for tests that required quicker attention. There are cities that will pay for these kinds of tests, under the "Special Supports" programs, but Hamilton is not one of them. They have said this is the responsibility of the Provincial Ministry of Health. The Canada Health act requires that all medically necessary tests are meant to be accessible by all members of the public regardless of their station in life. In an effort to save money the government has chosen the wrong area to privatize. Testing is the best way to keep health costs down in the future. The prevention of disease or the early detection of disease will save far more costs to the Health care system than closing the "door to early detection. It is also another case of penalizing the already ill and vulnerable section of society, in order to save money. For the list of tests you can go to www.OPSEU206.org, here you can find out about the closures and contact numbers to try and get these clinics back into the public hands. Maggie Hughes