Mike Da Prat, two-time cancer survivor, will have no doctor after this week

Mike Da Prat has had cancer. Twice.

He has diabetes.

He has a kidney issue.

He also has a stent propping open one of his coronary arteries.

For all these things, the longtime president of United Steelworkers Local 2251 needs regular medical follow-ups.

But come this Friday, Da Prat will no longer have a doctor to co-ordinate his primary health care and referrals to specialists.

On Jan. 25, Group Health Centre sent him a letter indicating he's one of the 10,000 patients who'll be de-rostered effective May 31.

Not only will he lose his family doctor, but he'll also be cut off from other Group Health Centre services including its walk-in clinic.

"The effect of the de-rostering will be devastating," Da Prat said.

"Many or most of us who are elderly require regular medical care to maintain our quality of life. This care includes regular medication checks, bloodwork, quarterly diabetes checkups, and follow-up for many other chronic conditions," he said in an affidavit filed Thursday at the Sault Ste. Marie Courthouse.

"Being de-rostered has left us with no viable alternative for obtaining medical care, other than attending at the hospital emergency wards or the local walk-in clinics that are available in Sault Ste. Marie.

"Like other places in the province, emergency departments in Sault Ste. Marie are stretched to the bone. I expect that the walk-in clinics do not have the capacity to treat any more than a portion of the 10,000 patients set to be de-rostered," Da Prat said in his affidavit.

"Attending at emergency departments for non-urgent care is not viable. Patients who attend at the emergency room for non-urgent matters are likely to be turned away or will be faced with waits so intolerable that many will give up and return home without treatment."

Da Prat's affidavit was submitted to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice as Steelworkers Local 2251 prepares to launch legal proceedings against Group Health Centre and Algoma District Medical Group.

None of the allegations have been tested in court and so far neither Group Health Centre nor Algoma District Medical Group have filed detailed written responses.

Local 2251 has served notice that it will seek an injunction to stop the de-rostering and will also be launching legal action against GHC and the medical group.

On Friday, Da Prat advised his members that a tentative court date to address the union motions has been set for "June 6, 2024, if not sooner."

"Waiting for specific health care concerns to rise to the level of emergency puts our health and life at risk," Da Prat said.

"Without access to primary care, de-rostered patients will be faced with the prospect of driving eight hours north to Thunder Bay to seek care or three-and-a-half hours east to Sudbury.

"Neither is a viable option for a person experiencing a serious health issue or in need of regular in-person care. Moreover, family doctors act as the gatekeepers to specialized and other medical services.

"I relied on the GHC, whether through my own doctor or the walk-in clinic, for necessary referrals. Now that I have been de-rostered, I have no idea how I will be able to access these services," Da Prat said.

"Many of these patients are of advanced age and will die before they find another family doctor."

Da Prat has been president since May 2003 of USW Local 2251, which currently represents about 2,200 hourly rated workers at Algoma Steel.

He started at the steel mill in 1967 as a labourer in the coupling shop, and except for a two-year hiatus in the early 1970s, has worked at Algoma Steel continuously since then.

Group Health Centre was conceived and built by Sault Steelworkers in the early 1960s, before provincial health insurance plans existed in Canada.

"While the [Group Health] Association was founded primarily to provide members of the Steelworkers with quality healthcare, it offered its services to all residents of the Sault Ste. Marie area as the association had extra capacity," Da Prat said in his affidavit.

Da Prat has considerable knowledge of GHC's inner workings.

"As a member of the board of directors of the [Group Health] Association for over a decade, I am intimately familiar with its governance structure," he said.

"A large number of Steelworkers, many of whom are elderly, are among the de-rostered patients. As of the date of this affidavit, we have been contacted by 85 Steelworkers who have notified us that they are set to be de-rostered."

On May 7 of this year, members of Local 2251 voted to authorize legal proceedings, with Da Prat serving as representative plaintiff on behalf of all affected members of the Steelworkers.

Here's the union's game plan:

• it will try to convince the court that GHC is violating the Ontario Human Rights Code because elderly patients are being de-rostered at disproportionate rates to other patient groups
• it will argue that GHC is breaking a decades-old promise to provide its members with medical services for life
• it will ask the court to rule that changes made to the Group Health Association's governance in 2013 violated Section 332 of the Corporations Act
• it will accuse GHC of violating Section 174(2)(b) of the Not-for-Profit Corporations Act by unfairly de-rostering longstanding members
• the Steelworkers will present evidence that patients will suffer irreparable harm if the de-rosterings aren't halted

"The harm that we will suffer cannot be compensated for in a damage award several years down the road," Da Prat said.

"The de-rostered patients’ inability to access healthcare services in a timely way is certain to result in bad outcomes for some of the de-rostered patients."

"It could take months or even years for patients de-rostered from the Group Health Centre to find a new primary care provider. Many of these patients have complicated medical needs and chronic disorders that require frequent follow-up with primary care providers.

"A prolonged period of time without primary care will be extremely detrimental to their health in a way that money cannot compensate."

"Even for those who do find alternative primary care providers, they will likely need to travel far outside of Sault Ste. Marie to do so. This could result in significant delay in seeking necessary healthcare services, unmanageable travel expenses, and risk to their personal safety, particularly in the winter months.

"Prolonged commutes in rural communities can be precarious in the winter and will result in some needing to make difficult decisions about attending to their healthcare needs or risking their safety on the roads," Da Prat said.