TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - April 29, 2016) -

Attn: Assignment Editor

Three more communities are announcing that they are joining in the grassroots referendum to safeguard and restore local community hospital services from cuts. They will be holding media events and are available for interviews regarding this ambitious and unique initiative. The media events will be highly visual.

Volunteers in more than 20 communities across Ontario launched the cross-province volunteer-led referendum several days ago. Momentum continues to build as more and more communities join-in the mass vote.

Public hospitals across Ontario are experiencing devastating cuts. Ontario is currently in the ninth consecutive year of real-dollar cuts to global hospital budgets, the longest stretch in Ontario's history. These cuts mean that local public hospitals across the province cannot keep up even with basic inflation. Hospitals have been cut to the point of dangerous overcrowding and understaffing and patients are paying the price.

What: Media events announcing plans to join Ontario-wide volunteer-led referendum.

Who: Ontario Health Coalition and local coalitions across Ontario. The Ontario Health Coalition represents more than half-a-million Ontarians in its network of more than 400 organizations and more than 50 local chapters. Our members include seniors' organizations, health care professionals and nurses, doctors who support public medicare, unions – both public and private sector, community and cultural organizations, student groups, equity-seeking organizations and many others. Our mandate is to protect and extend quality single-tier public health care for all under the principles of equity and compassion that underlie the Canada Health Act.

When & Where