Medical association presents northern healthcare priorities for pre-budget consultations
On Tuesday, the standing committee on finance and economic affairs heard presentations from organizations in the northeast as part of pre-budget consultations.
Dr. Stephen Cooper, a Manitoulin Island physician, spoke on behalf of the Ontario Medical Association. He highlighted the association's five-point plan, which was launched in Sudbury back in October.
It includes five priorities: reducing wait times, expanding mental health and addiction programs, improving and expanding home and other community care, strengthening public health and pandemic preparedness, and giving every patient a team of healthcare providers and linking them digitally.
To address the shortage of doctors, the OMA recommends several measures, including giving patients access to care in their own communities and reviewing and updating incentives and supports for doctors and other healthcare professionals to practise here in the north.
"We’ve had some really good programs from about 20-30 years ago that really did improve physician recruitment into the north," said Cooper.
"But those haven’t been reviewed in 20 years and so I think we need to look at those. There are many other provinces that are doing the same thing … look what’s worked what hasn’t worked and then put a trial in."
"The health care needs of northern Ontario are growing," said OMA president Dr. Adam Kassam.
"We know that there’s a greater proportion of its population that are over 65. We know there are complex, continuing issues from a care perspective that need to be addressed right now. So our recommendations focus on the need to improve not only access but capacity to deliver service."
Currently in northern Ontario, there is a need for 325 physicians.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.
What do weight loss drugs mean for a diet industry built on eating less and exercising more?
Recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the health and fitness industries.
He replaced Mickey Mantle. Now baseball's oldest living major leaguer is turning 100
The oldest living former major leaguer, Art Schallock turns 100 on Thursday and is being celebrated in the Bay Area and beyond as the milestone approaches.
What a urologist wants you to know about male infertility
When opposite sex couples are trying and failing to get pregnant, the attention often focuses on the woman. That’s not always the case.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
It could take years to catch up on child vaccinations in Ontario post-pandemic
Ontario is still playing catch up on routine vaccinations that many children missed during the pandemic and public health officials are warning that it could take years to solve the problem.