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“We’re working to deliver even more connected and convenient care for people,” Jones said in a statement.

Liberal MPP Adil Shamji (Don Valley East), an emergency room physician and his party’s health critic, said the government should only be outsourcing medical procedures from hospitals to not-for-profit clinics — to avoid a “wild, wild west for essentially any vendor to come in and offer to do these surgeries.”

He pointed to a data breach last week at Ontario’s home-care agency — whose previous chief executive officer was fired months ago over a medical supply shortage — as a reason for caution.

“As we’ve seen with Ontario Health atÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ and the home care hush-up, the government cannot be trusted to identify new vendors, monitor them and ensure that they deliver quality services with appropriate oversight and guardrails.”

About 200,000 home-care patients had their health information breached March 17 via a cyberattack at Ontario Health atÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ vendor Ontario Medical Supply — a privately run company. Patient names, contact information and medical supplies and equipment ordered were exposed in the breach. 

It exposes vulnerable patients to identity theft, bank and other frauds, and reveals sensitive medical information, Shamji said, calling for people impacted to be offered creditor monitoring.

“People weren’t informed until I forced the issue ... it should have happened immediately,” Shamji added, referring to a news conference he held last Friday.

Ontario Health atÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ has since issued an advisory to patients that says the breach has been reported to Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner and noted an investigation is underway. Patients with concerns can call 1-866-377-7567.

Shamji and other critics have said moving more medical procedures out of hospitals into community-based clinics could bleed the public health system of doctors, nurses and other resources at a time when patients face long waits in emergency rooms. 

They also fear patients will be pressured at privately run clinics to pay for extras not covered by OHIP, although the government states “no centre can refuse an insured service to a patient who chooses not to purchase uninsured upgrades.”

There are more than 900 private clinics providing medical services such as X-rays and blood tests in the province as has been the case for decades under Progressive Conservative, Liberal and New Democrat governments.