Local health care advocate 'shocked' by $225 bill at private clinic
- Alicia Anderson
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
Thunder Bay Health Coalition president Jules Tupker says he's one among hundreds of people across Ontario who have made complaints about private clinics in the province.
Alicia Anderson
Jun 17, 2025 4:39 PM
THUNDER BAY — People across Ontario are walking out of private health care clinics with bills they didn’t see coming, sometimes totalling in the thousands, says the Ontario Health Coalition.
Jules Tupker, president of Thunder Bay Health Coalition, said that during a routine eye examination last spring a local optometrist suggested he book an appointment for cataract removal — and said he was shocked by the private clinic and its hidden fees.
“When I went to visit him, they did a number of tests with his assistant including eye measurements and a couple of other things that they had for me,” he said. “When I went to leave the office, the secretary at the front said 'you have to pay me $225 for the services,'” said Tupker.
Unaware of the fees, he said he had booked his wife’s appointment for the same time and was worried about paying the bill up front.
“I was fearful,” he said. “I thought if I question it, then they're going to say I can go somewhere else and I have to wait again for a number of months or whatever to get the surgery.”
“I already knew about the Health Coalition's campaign to make sure that you don't have to pay for medical necessary services, but I didn't want to jeopardize my opportunity to get the surgery, so I paid the $225,” Tupker said.
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