Appletree a day keeps students away

Brent Rose
Managing Editor

There are a lot of things people might not agree on, but when it comes to our healthcare, it’s not debatable.
Ever since Appletree took over the York health clinic, they’ve been cutting essential services and abandoning veteran employees whom the York community trust.
The trust between doctor and patient should be absolute – but Appletree doesn’t seem to get this. They don’t seem to care about students.
Starting March 1, 2010, Appletree Medical Group began their lease of the York Clinic after the old management wasn’t able to come to an agreement with the York University Development Corporation (YUDC), who control the leases in York Lanes.
Since their takeover, the York clinic registered nurse was replaced with an Appletree “medical assistant” with a three-month online certificate; several of the receptionists left; international students have had to pay a $15 co-pay fee every visit; Dr. Jantinder Dhillon, former York clinic manager and Appletree employee, left, stating Appletree is concerned only with money; and Appletree fired their last chiropractor, Amy Lavigne.
Since they started serving the York community, they’ve been cutting corners to fill their pockets with money. But hey, can you blame them? They’re a for-profit private corporation, so they can do what the hell they want – I guess that’s how the York admin sees it. What do you expect?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for capitalism. Good competition sustains our economy and creates jobs.
What Appletree has, however, is a monopoly on Keele campus. It competes against no one, so they don’t have to give in to customer demand and can set their own standards without oversight.
That’s why healthcare should be not-for-profit and government regulated (in this case, overseen by York). You can’t count on a corporation to do what’s right – only what’s profitable.
I expected Appletree to be apathetic to student needs, but the university? Last year, there was mention of talks between the university, the York Fed- eration of Students and the YUDC about Appletree operations, but has anything come these discussions? As far as I can see, Appletree’s monopoly remains uncontested.
Passing the Excalibur stands last week, I noticed significantly lower pick-up compared to our Nov. 17 issue, which spotlighted the story about the protests over former British MP George Galloway’s speech.
We decided to feature the story “York health clinic cuts services” in our Nov. 24 issue because we thought, “this is something students will care about.”
Since our Feb. 10, 2010 issue went to print, we haven’t received one letter, email or call – not one all year – about how Appletree continues to get away with cutting health services without opposition from the students (besides the international student boycott) or the York administration.
I understand that a big portion of the student population are commuters – I used to be one, too – but if you’re on campus and you begin to feel ill, where are you going to go? You’re going to go to the Appletree Clinic. York’s health clinic is an essential service to every York student, whether you live on campus or not.
I’m going to be candid. There was a large fuss when Galloway came to York, and all he did was talk for an hour. But no one is making a whisper over Appletree corporatizing York’s health clinic.
I guess all we lost was great healthcare. You decide what’s important.