The results, published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, should send a powerful message to those who are now campaigning for the introduction of for-profit hospitals in Canada, say the authors of the study.

The study was done by a large group of Canadian and American researches who analyzed the results of 15 different U.S. studies. The results showed a 2% higher death rate in for-profit institutions compared to not-for-profit institutions.

Dr. Philip Devereaux, the lead researcher, said the public has started to believe political leaders like Alberta Premier Ralph Klein have been saying for a long time that it does not matter whether health services are public or private as long as it is funded by government.

But this study shows the opposite. "Our research suggests that in fact the public should care," Devereaux said. "And that's why I think it's important to hear the results and to step back and think about that. And say: 'Why would we consider switching to this?'"

The findings convinced Dr. David Naylor, dean of medicine at the University of Toronto, who was not involved in the study.

"Does anyone still want to contract out large segments of our publicly financed health-care system to for-profit U.S. hospital chains after reading this article? I hope not," Naylor writes wrote in a commentary featured in the CMA Journal.

The team of 17 researchers, mainly from McMaster University in Hamilton and the universities of Toronto and Buffalo, N.Y., designed the study to specifically determine whether there were any health consequences of delivering hospital care in a for-profit setting. (28 May 2002)