Well, here we are in 2022.\u00a0 At this point last year, many of us were really hoping that by this time, we\u2019d be leaps and bounds ahead of where we are today.\u00a0 We are still struggling with a pandemic that has affected just about every aspect of our lives.\u00a0 And you know what, that\u2019s a good thing that we did have that hope.\u00a0 Hope is one of the primary nutrients we need to continue living and facing life\u2019s challenges.\u00a0 Noble Prize-winning physicist Albert Einstein\u2019s genius was not limited to just science.\u00a0 In many ways, he was a brilliant philosopher too.\u00a0 Einstein once said, \u201cLearn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.\u00a0 The important thing is not to stop questioning.\u201d<\/p>\n
The people of Ontario are not just sitting back and taking it on the chin from COVID-19s Delta and Omicron variants.\u00a0 We are fighting back in every way we can.\u00a0 Not only are we determined to make it through this epidemic, but we are also taking advantage of this catastrophe to examine some of our failing policies, practices and systems.\u00a0 We are determined to pinpoint weaknesses so that we can make improvements that will make life better for everyone in days to come.<\/p>\n
Given that we are experiencing a public health and medical crisis, it is natural that we focus heavily on our healthcare system.\u00a0 However, some of the weaknesses may have until now barely shown up on the radar at the provincial scale.\u00a0 But now, they are presenting as glaring problems that we should have addressed long ago but failed to do so. \u00a0Therefore, we must seize this opportunity to address these issues while they are exposed and readily studied.<\/p>\n
One of the mainstays of Canadian healthcare is that all people should have access to universal, free healthcare no matter where they live.\u00a0 Yet, for decades, Northern Ontarians have maintained that we do not have access to medical services that are equitable with those available in other regions of the province.<\/p>\n
I recently came across an outstanding article by Dr. Sarah Newbery in the January 6th, 2022 edition of Healthydebate.ca<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>Newbery is a family physician who has served communities in the Marathon area for twenty-five years.\u00a0 The circumstances she describes will resonate with many northerners.\u00a0 Dr. Newbery writes:<\/p>\n \u201cIn our community of Marathon, there is funding for six rural general family physicians and we have a small Family Health Team.\u00a0 We have no specialists.\u00a0 Our nearest larger centres are 300 kilometres away to the west (Thunder Bay) and 400 kilometres away to the east (Sault Ste. Marie).\u00a0 Many of our patients cannot easily travel because of poverty, lack of vehicle access, illness, age and the challenges of a twisty, craggy highway that\u2019s a menace in the winter.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Dr. Newbery explains that their health team consults with specialists on the phone and follow up their recommendations with patients locally as best they can.\u00a0 However, \u201cthis work \u2013 the kind of comprehensive community-responsive care that has supported the health of rural systems in northern Ontario for years \u2013 is in jeopardy.\u00a0 Today in Northern Ontario, according to community-level recruiter information, we need more than\u00a0<\/em>300 physicians.<\/em>\u00a0Of those, we need 97 rural generalist family physicians in our small communities.\u00a0 There is an increase in need by 10 physicians since December 2020, mirroring a trend for family physicians across the North.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The described realities are the same all across the North.<\/p>\n Here in Algoma-Manitoulin, my team and I have been working diligently on a string of such issues stretching from Manitouwadge, along the North Shore and over to Manitoulin Island.\u00a0 Right now, there is a severe shortage in the Thessalon\u2013Bruce Mines community, where they narrowly averted having to close the hospital over the Christmas break.\u00a0 Some communities and doctors have been working for several years now, trying to recruit new doctors to replace those who have been wanting to retire for some time.\u00a0 Across the region, I hear from health team managers with numerous doctors who are approaching an age when they want to slow down progressively. Doctors hope to pass off their caseloads and share their skills, knowledge and experience with younger physicians looking to set up practice and establish roots.<\/p>\n According to the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), \u201cNorthern Ontario makes up almost 90 percent of Ontario\u2019s landmass but contains only six percent of its population.\u00a0 The OMA has long recognized that Northern Ontarians do not have equitable access to the care they need and deserve within their own communities.\u00a0 But let\u2019s be clear on what equitable access to care<\/u><\/em> means.\u00a0 It means that Northern Ontarians should have the right to access the same care and medical services that every patient in this province has. \u00a0To read the article, search online Perscription for Ontario: Doctors\u2019 5-Point Plan for Better Health Care<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n The OMA states that the doctor and healthcare professional shortage in Northern Ontario is very real.\u00a0 Added to these shortages are serious challenges such as proximity to service availability, deteriorating or lack of necessary infrastructure, travel costs and weather conditions.\u00a0 In total, these realities combined lead Northern Ontarians down a path to social, cultural, economic and health crises.<\/p>\n The OMA is proposing five priorities to focus upon to improve healthcare across Ontario:<\/p>\n Ontario\u2019s health care services are now stretched beyond their limits.\u00a0 Caregivers and health professionals are working harder than ever.\u00a0 Yet after the drastic cuts of the Conservative years and 15 years of neglect, frozen budgets and cuts under the Liberals, health care in Ontario is falling short of what families need.\u00a0 Waits are long.\u00a0 There\u2019s a hallway medicine crisis.<\/p>\n Andrea Horwath and the NDP believe that delivering quality public health care is the most important thing our government does.\u00a0 It\u2019s time to start moving forward again, so Ontarians can expect more from the health services we\u2019ve built together.<\/p>\n We don\u2019t have to settle for that anymore.\u00a0 The time has come for Ontario to tackle these issues once and for all.<\/p>\n I wholeheartedly agree with Dr. Newbery\u2019s conclusion to her article when she states, \u201cWe have the solutions in Ontario.\u00a0 We need the will.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n