KITCHENER — A coalition of public health care advocates has launched a campaign to prevent the Ontario government from outsourcing hospital services.

A small group of people stood outside Grand River Hospital on Monday, asking passersby to have their say on the issue.

"As a community, we are very strong," said Shawn Rouse, a participant in the Ontario Health Coalition campaign. "We cannot let our services be taken away from us."

The coalition says the Liberal government wants to have services such as colonoscopies, endoscopies, day surgeries and diagnostic services like MRIs and CT scans provided by private clinics.

They're concerned such a move could threaten publicly funded health care, with patients facing extra fees not covered by OHIP.

"The cost goes up, and the level of safety goes down," said Wil Maddeaux. "You have no idea what level of care you will get."

The Cambridge man has been receiving radiation treatments at Grand River, and had nothing but praise for its staff and service.

"It was a very good experience," he said.

Rouse said the move would amount to the "destruction" of our hospitals.

"You're putting a credit card ahead of an OHIP card," he said.

Coalition executive director Natalie Mehra said virtually all private clinics in Canada bill the public health care system and charge extra user fees.

"That's illegal under the Canada Health Act, but that's routine in the private clinics," she said.

The coalition is concerned local hospitals will lose staff to the private clinics, but will still be left with patients that require the most care.

Health Minister Deb Matthews was unavailable for comment Monday, but her office said the government was committed to "move more routine, low-risk procedures into the community" through nonprofit clinics.

"We know that this reform is good for patients, will provide better value for taxpayers and will ensure that patients receive the right care in the right place at the right time," said press secretary Samantha Grant.

"We will only move these procedures into not-for profit clinics and all medically necessary procedures performed in these clinics will be covered by OHIP."

The ministry said clinics will be required to make patients aware of any fees for uninsured services, and that those fees are optional.

The coalition is launching its campaign in several communities this week, including Waterloo Region, Windsor, Sudbury, London and Peterborough.

They're calling on people to vote in their referendum by April 5. The ballot question asks people whether they support local hospitals and don't want the government to cut services or contract them out.

Rouse said the coalition expects to be on hand at events, workplaces and public spaces throughout the region. Results are expected to be announced April 7.

bdavis@therecord.com with files from The Canadian Press