Sault MPP cautiously optimistic about a health care solution
Sault Ste. Marie MPP Ross Romano says he’s cautiously optimistic a solution can be found in providing primary care to thousands of local patients being de-rostered and who are at risk of being de-rostered through the Group Health Centre.
Romano also said he’s willing to meet with anyone who wants to know about the work being done to provide primary care to patients in the city.
His comments come following a request from United Steelworkers Local 2251, in which they requested a face-to-face between Romano and the unions.
"As you are aware, the Group Health Centre itself has de-rostered 3,000 patients prior to 2024 and is de-rostering 10,000 patients as of May 31," the letter read.
"It was also stated by the Group Health Centre that 6,000 more are at risk."
The letter’s authors go on to cite an alleged incident in which a local doctor applied for a grant from the provincial government to train up to 51 international doctors presently in Sault Ste. Marie and was denied.
"If this in fact is the case, it must be the provincial government of which you are part of, who is denying requests/applications. This is extremely puzzling," the open letter goes on to say.
CTV News contacted Romano on Thursday evening for comment and he said he had only learned of the incident shortly before the rest of the city on January 11.
He has since put together a taskforce in hopes of coming up with a mission statement, both short- and long-term, and solutions to addressing the issues involving doctor shortages.
"The taskforce is comprised of a representative of every type of primary care provider in our community. I tried to bring generational perspectives from all age groups," Romano said.
"We also have a number of specialists who are part of the taskforce."
The MPP said he has been working closely with the Ontario Ministry of Health in a bid to come up with a solution to the crisis.
"I can make no guarantees, but I’m cautiously optimistic, but I’m working towards that because I refuse to lose sight of those patients," he said.
Adding he's hopeful they can come up with a solution before May 31 in hopes of giving affected patients enough time to transition before the final date.
- Download the CTV News app now
- Get local breaking news alerts
- Daily newsletter with the top local stories emailed to your inbox
The union’s letter was signed by 17 different individuals who make up much of the city’s organized labour force.
Earlier this year, 10,000 patients of the Group Health Centre were notified by letters that they would be losing access to their primary care providers and same-day clinic services after May 31.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
OPP's mandatory alcohol screening during traffic stops 'not acceptable': CCLA
A spike in impaired driving-related collisions has caused Ontario’s provincial police to begin enforcing mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) at all traffic stops in the Greater Toronto Area -- a move one civil rights group says is ‘not acceptable.’
Maple Leafs down Bruins 2-1 to force Game 7
William Nylander scored twice and Joseph Woll made 22 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday to force Game 7 in their first-round series.
Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
Southern Alberta store broken into by burly black bear
Staff at a small southern Alberta office supply store were shocked to find someone had broken into the business last week, but they were even more confused when they discovered the culprit was a bear.
Captain sentenced to 4 years for criminal negligence in fiery deaths of 34 aboard scuba boat
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years in custody and three years supervised release for criminal negligence after 34 people died in a fire aboard the vessel.
New scam targets Canada Carbon Rebate recipients
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.