“They're all entitled to lifelong health care in their original contract.” – Mike Da Pratte, Steelworkers Local 2251 President
A while ago, Sault Ste. Mary's Group Health Center was widely considered a model for the future of health care in Canada.
Group Health Centers have won national best practice awards, been featured in Maclean's magazine as one of Canada's top 10 models of health care, and were previously named “Canada's health care's best-kept secret” by the Future Health Commissioner. It was called. “Be careful in Canada, Roy Romanow,” the GHC website declares.
But even 20 years ago, thousands of local steelworkers who paid $135 each to start an innovative membership-based health organization in 1962 are being forgotten as the population ages. The signs were there.
On May 29, 2004, when Prime Minister Paul Martin visited GHC's main building at McNab and Willow, his security personnel were joined by Steelworkers Local 2251, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), and other organizations. groups representing organized labor organizations were ordered to clear the venue. Center parking lot.
Some of the groups protested that they were members of the GHC and that their donations had founded the famous institution.
But plainclothes RCMP officers insisted the protesters were on private property and the event was by invitation only.
GHC Chairman Dave Murray immediately recognized the insult and quickly stood up with some of the demonstrators while So Today took photos of them.
Murray claimed that the decision was completely out of his hands.
The previous day, he said, the RCMP asked him to sign a document that would effectively take over management of the center starting the next day.
The purpose of the document, Murray told Sue Today, was to give police discretion over who was allowed on the premises and who was trespassing.
The police action also shocked Tony Martin, who was running for the local New Democratic Party in that year's federal election.
“Despite the Prime Minister having the opportunity to hear directly from the founding members of Canada's most innovative health service, he chose to remove them from the premises to pose for his own photo,” Martin said. Told.
“The Prime Minister has claimed that group health centers will help alleviate the doctor shortage, but neither the Prime Minister nor the Liberal candidate seem to recognize the doctor shortage currently facing the Sault Region,” it added.
Fast forward to 2024.
The shortage of doctors remains acute in Sault Ste. Marie, so severe that GHC announced in January that it would remove 10,000 of its 60,000 patients from its roster as of May 31.
Among these 10,000 patients are many “brickers,” members of the steelworkers who built the place.
After being promised up-front lifetime medical care, they were losing access to primary care providers and GHC same-day services.
In addition to their injuries, the Brickers were left without a doctor well into their later years, when they need medical care more than ever.
Last week, members of Steelworkers Local 2251, which represents 2,184 hourly workers at Algoma Steel, voted to approve a lawsuit and court injunction to prevent the members from being removed from the rolls.
And now the lawyers preparing these cases are scrambling to find retirees and their surviving spouses who were the original supporters of the group health center, which they joined in 1959.
Lawyers hope to discuss with the original “brickers” the promise of GHC membership and include their names as plaintiffs in future lawsuits.
“They all deserve a lifetime of health care starting with their initial bargain,” Local 2251 President Mike Da Prat told SooToday.
In addition to the $135 registration fee, Local 2251's Bricker also directed company profits to GHC, he said.
“The original system was that you kept paying the cost of the benefit as an operating fund, and then when you left, you had no more money. It was supposed to be free, and people coming in would provide the benefit. The proceeds are used to maintain the location and basically pay for retirement. ”
Until a change in governance in 2012, GHC patients were not tied to a specific doctor for life.
“Until then, if a doctor retired or quit, you had to use a same-day clinic or clinic until you could find a new doctor.
“Now I received a very sad letter saying that I am sorry to hear that you are gone.
“That's the purpose of this lawsuit: to restore governance and to stop this delisting until this issue is resolved,” Da Prat said.
“What we will do is once we have a list of names, we will hold a virtual meeting with our attorneys.
“They just explain what they want, maybe a paragraph or two on the facts. It's just part of the history and file of the case.”
If you were an original GHC supporter, or know someone who was, you are asked to call the Local 2251 office at 705-942-3900.
