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Stevens Urging Ford to Buy Ontario-Made Hospital Drugs and Supplies

St. Catharines MPP calling on Premier to focus on buying hospital products made in Ontario.

A local MPP is urging Premier Doug Ford to support Ontario healthcare businesses by procuring hospital drugs and supplies from companies in the province. 

St. Catharines MPP Jennie Stevens says St. Catharines-based business Biolyse Pharma, which specializes in anti-cancer drugs, was forced out of the Canadian market by a larger health care procurement buying group.

Stevens held a press conference today with NDP health critic France Gelinas and Biolyse Pharma president Brigitte Kiecken. 

"We have a company here in St. Catharines with 25 years of expertise making injectable cancer therapies being blocked from providing their products to Ontario’s hospitals by a large purchasing group with no accountability. That’s 25 years of good jobs and local manufacturing skill being threatened," said Stevens. "The pandemic showed us all that Ontario needs local capacity to make the medicines we need so that we don’t have to rely on other countries for critical health care."

On Wednesday, Stevens introduced a motion in the legislature calling on the province to prioritize and strengthen procurement from medical manufacturers based in Ontario, as well as look into large purchasing groups procuring drugs for hospitals in the province. 

"We need to make sure Ontario can produce the drugs and health care supplies we need. We need to support companies like Biolyse and fix our broken health care procurement system," said Stevens. "Ford must pass my motion to prioritize local procurement for health care, and pass MPP Gélinas’ bill to bring transparency and accountability to health care procurement. Ford must act to help Biolyse, save jobs here in St. Catharines, and make our health system stronger and more transparent."
 

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