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Premier Doug Ford has launched a commission of inquiry, headed by Gordon Campbell with Michael Horgan, and Al Rosen, for “a thorough, end-to-end, line-by-line audit of all government spending, programs, and services.”

There are several areas in the health-care system where savings could be found.

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Ford has already imposed a public service hiring freeze and has frozen the wages of public service managers, including health care. Health Minister Christine Elliott has revised OHIP+ so that it covers drugs for persons under age 25 only if they are not covered by private insurance.

Ford should also put an immediate freeze on hiring health administrators and allow attrition to occur.

According to the Globe and Mail, from 2003-2018, the number of health-related civil servants soared from 6,000 to 13,000. Each of the 14 local health integration networks has a CEO and six vice-presidents, and there are now 78 sub-LHINs. The number of arm’s length provincial health agencies has swollen from 67 to 94.