For-profit health care: A road paved with gold and doubtful intentions (ARCHIVED)

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One afternoon in 2006 the telephone rang in the communications office of a nurses’ union. On the other end was a political advisor from one of the provincial ministries. The caller was interested in arranging a meeting between government officials and union leaders. His objective: to “explain” the province’s alternative financing method for hospital construction, popularly known as Public-Private Partnerships (P3s), to the union leadership. The government wanted to get the nurses on side, to convince them to back the private financing of health infrastructure.