OMA releases progress report on its prescription for primary care
The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) is sounding the alarm about primary care, once again, following up on a prescription that it wrote the provincial government almost 18 months ago.
OMA found serious issues facing family doctors including what it calls a "crushing administrative burden."
And while it says progress has been made on some fronts, in other cases, including northern Ontario's, the situation is getting worse.
"From the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, it estimates that as of June 2022 that there was a shortage of 364 physicians. It's a fairly significant physician population for the population size that is northern Ontario," said new OMA president Dr. Andrew Park.
Park said the region faces a number of issues, including physical access to care, made more difficult by weather, travel and distance.
According to the OMA, doctors are burning out across the province and in rural, northeastern Ontario.
"The major issue that we are going to need to continue to have programs which are funded and committed to the community level helping to contain and recruit physicians to the northern communities," he said.
"We know that there are some very unique challenges to patients in the north and those are going to require some dedicated solutions. One of the issues we face as health care leaders in the province is that the difference of practice, of two practices across the street is wide and varied when we compare that to the rest of the province. There's an incredible amount of diversity and complexity that comes into how we practice the different patients that we serve and that's a really unique challenge in the north."
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
Dr. David Barber is a Queen's University professor and family doctor in the Kingston area.
"I think people forget that it's the family doctors that are running the health care system. They're working in emerges, emerg rooms, like Dr. Park is. They're running the hospital, they will sometimes do obstetrics," Barber said.
"You can highlight the north, but the reality is, the reality is this shortage is across Ontario. I mean I don't think that there is any community not affected by this and I think that for me, the idea of looking at this is that it's going to get worse."
New programs have been launched and additional funding has been committed to getting and keeping more doctors locally, but the OMA said the chronic shortage needs urgent attention.
CTV News reached out to the Minister of Health and a spokesperson said they recognize the unique challenges faced by the region.
She writes in part:
"We have launched the largest medical school expansion in 15 years, most recently adding an additional 14 undergraduate and 22 post-graduate seats at the North Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM), invested $32 million for resident salaries and benefits, medical education and training, allied health programs, and the Remote First Nations Family Medicine Residency Program at NOSM, funded nearly 80 new physicians through the Northern and Rural Recruitment and Retention Initiative (NRRRI), funded 150,000 Northern travel Health Travel Grant through a nearly $50 million last year and, as part of Your Health, we are creating up to 18 Ontario Health Teams to help bridge the gap in accessing interprofessional primary care across the province."
The progress report comes as North Shore Health Network announced its fifth emergency room closure in two weeks, citing a lack of appropriate staffing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
What to know about avian influenza in dairy cows and the risk to humans
Why is H5N1, or bird flu, a concern, how does it spread, and is there a vaccine? Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about avian influenza.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
opinion The special relationship between King Charles and the Princess of Wales
Royal commentator Afua Hagan writes that when King Charles recently admitted Catherine to the Order of the Companions of Honour, it not only made history, but it reinforced the strong bond between the King and his beloved daughter-in-law.
Man convicted of involuntary manslaughter in father's drowning, told police he was baptizing him
A Massachusetts man who told police he was exorcising a demon and performing a baptism when he shoved his father's head under water multiple times has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter in his death.
New Norad commander calls Canada's defence policy update 'very encouraging'
American troops will be spending more time training in the Far North, the new commander of Norad says, a strategy that fits 'hand-in-glove' with Canada's renewed focus on Arctic defence.
$70M Lotto Max winners kept prize a secret from family for 2 months
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Are Canadians getting sick from expired food?
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
Documents reveal Ottawa's efforts to get Loblaw, Walmart on board with grocery code
It was evident to the federal government as early as last fall that Loblaw and Walmart might be holdouts to the grocery code of conduct, jeopardizing the project's success.
Hubble Space Telescope marks 34 years with new portrait of a 'cosmic dumbbell'
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a stunning new image of the glowing gas ejected from a dying star, which in this case happens to resemble a 'cosmic dumbbell.'