Latest news with #OntarioMedicalAssociation
CBC
02-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Meet the first Black woman elected to represent Ontario doctors
The Ontario Medical Association (OMA) has elected its first Black woman president to advocate for the province's physicians, residents and medical students. Dr. Zainab Abdurrahman, a board certified clinical immunologist and allergist, will serve as the association's 144th president and hopes to inspire others in her new role. "It feels actually, to be honest, amazing. I take on this role knowing there is added responsibility being the first Black woman," said Abdurrahman, whose father is a retired physician. "I think of every time in my office when there's a little Black girl and they get really excited when they see me. They're so excited to know they could be the doctor, so I'm hoping these opens doors and people think of all the leadership roles they can take." Her inauguration took place May 1 at the OMA's annual general meeting in London while celebrating Doctors' Day. As the new president, Abdurrahman will advocate for the more than 43,000 physicians across the province — rural, urban and remote — aiming to bring a unified voice to members with different experiences and ensure they are heard, she said. "I'm really hoping that I'll bring a unified voice to the membership," she said. "I'm also ensuring that during my term I'm going out and seeking them and trying to hear about what's happening in their communities, what's happening in their practice, what are their pain points." One of Abdurrahman's main priorities is to address the crisis in family medicine in Ontario, she said. "Every Ontarian deserves a family doctor, and this is really their gateway to all of the care — we have exceptional doctors in Ontario ... but currently the systems have underfunded them," she said. Family doctors are drowned in paperwork, she said. "We need to address that so that it's more open for everyone to consider doing comprehensive family medicine." Leading more patients to family doctors will help provide preventative care, catch health concerns early, get patients to the specialists they need and keep them out of emergency rooms, she said. "This all trickles down into affecting the entire healthcare system." Abdurrahman also wants to focus on the well-being of physicians, increasing efforts and dedicate support for mental health and well-being for physicians along with address healthcare mistrust among patients in the community at large. She will serve in a one-year term as president, and will have locum support for the year in her practice in the Golden Horseshoe region. "We're hoping that with with this next year, we're going to continue to see infusions into medicine and into family medicine," she said. "We're looking for continued advocacy and support toward that to ensure the patients of Ontario are going to get the best care and opportunities to have a family doctor."
CBC
10-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
Ontario seeking primary care teams for 300,000 patients in plan to match people with doctors
Social Sharing Ontario is looking for up to 80 new or expanded primary care teams to serve 300,000 patients, as it plans to build a system that automatically attaches people to a family doctor or nurse practitioner team based on their postal code. Health Minister Sylvia Jones says the province is launching a call for proposals on Thursday, with $213 million attached to create or expand the 80 teams as part of a $1.8-billion announcement she made on the eve of the provincial election. Jones and former federal Liberal health minister Jane Philpott, who the Progressive Conservative government has tapped to be the head of a provincial primary care action team, announced in January that Ontario would spend that money over the next few years to give all Ontarians access to primary care by 2029. The government plans to achieve that by creating a system that automatically connects people to a primary care team based on postal code, and this call for proposals is targeted to the postal codes that have the highest number of people without a primary care provider. Jones says the 80 new or expanded primary care teams will be expected to pull from the Health Care Connect waitlist to fill their rosters. She says today's announcement builds on a previous one from early 2024, when 78 new or expanded primary care teams were announced. "What's exciting is we've already seen some of those teams are completely operational and actually exceeding their commitment to matching patients who are looking for primary care clinicians," Jones said in an interview. "[This] announcement really builds on that. Up to 80 teams is what we hope to be able to approve, frankly, by summer and again, if the February announcement is any indication, they're ready, and they're ready to get started, and they're ready to hire and to take on those patients." 2.5 million Ontarians don't have family doctor: association Jones and Philpott's plan would connect two million more people to primary care, which they say would fulfil the goal of attaching everyone to a family doctor or nurse practitioner. The Ontario Medical Association says there are 2.5 million Ontarians without a family doctor right now and the number is expected to rise to 4.4 million in a year, but Jones cites data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information, which says that 90 per cent of Ontarians have a regular health-care provider. This plan would cover that last 10 per cent, she says. WATCH | Over 1,000 people lined up to try to get a family doctor in Walkerton, Ont., in January: Hundreds wait in the snow to get a family doctor in rural Ontario 3 months ago Duration 2:03 The primary care teams would include a family doctor or nurse practitioner, and other health-care professionals such as nurses, physician assistants, social workers and dietitians. Operating models include family health teams, community health centres, nurse practitioner-led clinics, and Indigenous primary health-care organizations. The list of 125 postal codes where the need is highest is just the start of the location-based plan, Philpott said. "There are needs everywhere, but in some cases, the numbers of people who don't have access to primary care are higher than in other areas," she said. "We all wish that we could fill these gaps overnight, but it's going to take a little bit of time, and so with these very significant investments that the government is making, we wanted to make sure that, as we start to roll it out, that it goes to the places where there are very high numbers of unattached." Ontario is also putting an additional $22 million toward helping existing primary care teams meet rising costs for their facilities and supplies, and $37 million in Ontario Health Teams. The government expects to do a second call for proposals in September.
CBC
07-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
'If we close, people die': Rural Ontario hospitals await ER staffing certainty
Rural and northern Ontario hospitals are anxiously awaiting word from the provincial government on a program that helps them keep emergency rooms open, after it ended last month. Health Minister Sylvia Jones' office has said it is working on a permanent solution after the temporary program expired, but in the meantime the people who work to keep ERs open are concerned about filling those shifts. "Because we're so short-staffed, we cannot run a 24-hour emergency department without outside physician support," said Ann Fenlon, the medical recruitment and retention co-ordinator at Lady Dunn Health Centre in Wawa, Ont. The northern Ontario community is supposed to have seven doctors who provide both family and emergency medicine, but they currently have three, Fenlon said. They have not had to close their ER, but they have come close, she said. "We're 240 kilometres away from the next hospital," Fenlon said. "If we close, people die." The Temporary Locum Program pays doctors an incentive to fill emergency department shifts -- with most of those physicians coming from other, more urban parts of the province -- to help hospitals in more isolated areas on a locum, or temporary, basis. Ontario first established it as a temporary program during the COVID-19 pandemic, but amid broader physician staffing challenges the rural and northern hospitals have come to rely on it. The Ontario Medical Association's emergency medicine section chair suggested in a recent memo to emergency department leads that staff at several hospitals have been expressing concerns about the current limbo. "The section is acutely aware of the impact the end of this program will have on staffing stability of emergency departments across the province," Angela Marrocco wrote. "We have done everything we can to emphasize this reality to the Ministry of OMA is continuing to pursue ways to mitigate any negative impacts related to timing between expiry of TLP and implementation of a permanent model." Province working on a permanent program A spokesperson for Jones said the goal has always been a permanent program, and the ministry is currently in negotiations with the OMA. "Hospitals can continue to schedule physician coverage as required as we work with the Ontario Medical Association to transition the temporary locum program into a permanent program through the new Physician Services Agreement," Hannah Jensen said. But the question is not whether hospitals can continue to try to book doctors on a locum basis, said Melanie Goulet, recruitment co-ordinator for health professionals at Notre-Dame Hospital in Hearst, Ont. It's whether there will be funding to incentivize physicians to fill those shifts. "Obviously (we'll) continue to book don't want to close our emerg," she said. But at the moment she isn't sure what will happen with the doctors currently in Hearst on a locum basis or those with shifts coming up -- will their additional pay come later, on a retroactive basis? In her region it amounts to almost $900 for a 12-hour shift, so without it she worries recruitment will be hampered. "We have one physician, she's in Hearst for almost two I don't know what to tell her," Goulet said. "So as much as they say they're clear, I don't think they actually understand the situation." The ministry also offers an Emergency Department Locum Program, but there are different criteria, and it is mostly for last-minute needs, not allowing co-ordinators to plan too far ahead, Goulet said. Both programs help ERs stay open, she said. The Temporary Locum Program has been extended several times, in at least one case months after it had already expired. Hospitals just want some certainty, Fenlon said.
CBC
07-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
'If we close, people die': Rural Ontario hospitals await ER staffing certainty
Rural and northern Ontario hospitals are anxiously awaiting word from the provincial government on a program that helps them keep emergency rooms open, after it ended last month. Health Minister Sylvia Jones' office has said it is working on a permanent solution after the temporary program expired, but in the meantime the people who work to keep ERs open are concerned about filling those shifts. "Because we're so short-staffed, we cannot run a 24-hour emergency department without outside physician support," said Ann Fenlon, the medical recruitment and retention co-ordinator at Lady Dunn Health Centre in Wawa, Ont. The northern Ontario community is supposed to have seven doctors who provide both family and emergency medicine, but they currently have three, Fenlon said. They have not had to close their ER, but they have come close, she said. "We're 240 kilometres away from the next hospital," Fenlon said. "If we close, people die." The Temporary Locum Program pays doctors an incentive to fill emergency department shifts -- with most of those physicians coming from other, more urban parts of the province -- to help hospitals in more isolated areas on a locum, or temporary, basis. Ontario first established it as a temporary program during the COVID-19 pandemic, but amid broader physician staffing challenges the rural and northern hospitals have come to rely on it. The Ontario Medical Association's emergency medicine section chair suggested in a recent memo to emergency department leads that staff at several hospitals have been expressing concerns about the current limbo. "The section is acutely aware of the impact the end of this program will have on staffing stability of emergency departments across the province," Angela Marrocco wrote. "We have done everything we can to emphasize this reality to the Ministry of OMA is continuing to pursue ways to mitigate any negative impacts related to timing between expiry of TLP and implementation of a permanent model." Province working on a permanent program A spokesperson for Jones said the goal has always been a permanent program, and the ministry is currently in negotiations with the OMA. "Hospitals can continue to schedule physician coverage as required as we work with the Ontario Medical Association to transition the temporary locum program into a permanent program through the new Physician Services Agreement," Hannah Jensen said. But the question is not whether hospitals can continue to try to book doctors on a locum basis, said Melanie Goulet, recruitment co-ordinator for health professionals at Notre-Dame Hospital in Hearst, Ont. It's whether there will be funding to incentivize physicians to fill those shifts. "Obviously (we'll) continue to book don't want to close our emerg," she said. But at the moment she isn't sure what will happen with the doctors currently in Hearst on a locum basis or those with shifts coming up -- will their additional pay come later, on a retroactive basis? In her region it amounts to almost $900 for a 12-hour shift, so without it she worries recruitment will be hampered. "We have one physician, she's in Hearst for almost two I don't know what to tell her," Goulet said. "So as much as they say they're clear, I don't think they actually understand the situation." The ministry also offers an Emergency Department Locum Program, but there are different criteria, and it is mostly for last-minute needs, not allowing co-ordinators to plan too far ahead, Goulet said. Both programs help ERs stay open, she said. The Temporary Locum Program has been extended several times, in at least one case months after it had already expired. Hospitals just want some certainty, Fenlon said.
CBC
25-02-2025
- Health
- CBC
How northwestern Ontarians want election candidates to tackle healthcare issues
Healthcare is top of mind for many northwestern Ontario voters heading into the 2025 provincial election. Almost a quarter of Thunder Bay residents don't have access to a family doctor, according to Ontario Medical Association (OMA) data from 2022, while finding a new family doctor in Thunder Bay has proven near-impossible for some patients. Hospitals in northwestern Ontario are on the brink of collapse amid doctor shortages, while doctors say rural and northern Emergency rooms (ERs) face risks of closure. The staff in northwestern Ontario ERs say they are burning out from working excessive hours while trying to keep services open. Meanwhile, thousands of northern Ontarians have to travel long distances in order to get specialist and diagnostic care every year, according to provincial data. Many reserves only have nursing stations, which means patients have to take flights or ice road journeys hundreds of kilometres and stay overnight to access care. This means thousands of First Nations patients in Northwestern Ontario are forced to take these kind of journeys to the closest hospital. CBC News interviewed three residents from various northwestern Ontario ridings with differing views to learn more about what they want to see their next MPPs do to address healthcare issues. Here's what they shared. Real plans for primary care instead of abstract promises Eric Tatrallyay, who lives in Thunder Bay, said access to primary care providers is the most important issue to him this election. He said he wants to see candidates provide specific details on how they will connect Ontarians to a doctor or nurse practitioner who can follow their care. "They need to have a concrete plan, like strategies, not just say 'we're going to do this by such-and-such a date' because we've heard that many times and it doesn't happen," said Tatrallyay. Tatrallyay said he hasn't had a family doctor for about three years, and worries he could need more consistent care than a walk-in clinic can provide as he ages. He said he'd like to see the next government put effort into researching more successful primary care systems in other countries and optimizing Ontario's systems based on their findings. "If they can achieve that, I don't see why we can't," said Tatrallyay, referencing Denmark, where 98% of people have a primary care provider. Finding healthcare workers for northwestern Ontario Scott Kennedy lives north of Thunder Bay in Fowler. During this election, he said he'd like to see candidates describe how they plan to increase training and recruitment of healthcare workers willing to work in northwestern Ontario. While many candidates' platforms include promises to hire more doctors or nurse practitioners, Kennedy said he needs more information about how they plan to make that happen. "Where are you going to find them? That's just a fundamental question," said Kennedy. He said he's concerned we aren't training enough new doctors in Ontario to make up the current deficit. Kennedy said he's also worried that federal limits on immigration will make it harder to recruit foreign doctors to come practice in Ontario– and those that are able to successfully immigrate will be courted by multiple other provinces who are also desperate to relieve their own doctor shortages. "We're going to be fighting our own provinces because they need those people every bit as much as we do," said Kennedy. Kennedy said he also wants to ensure a percentage of newly trained and recruited healthcare workers are willing to practice in northern and rural parts of the province. "I'm in a very rural environment, as are millions of Canadians and, to a degree, Ontarians. So we need the doctors, some of them at least, out in those communities," said Kennedy. Funding for northern hospitals, ambulance services Gayla MacMillan in Rainy River said she wants to see more funding allocated to northern hospitals and ambulance services. "The north needs medical care, not just Rainy River, but even further north than Rainy River and on the reserves," she said. Rainy River has struggled to recruit and retain healthcare workers, particularly doctors and paramedics. The district has had to reduce the amount of ambulance stations it keeps open because of staff shortages. MacMillan said she's concerned the overstressed public health system could force more people to seek private care or paid virtual clinics. "I don't want us to end up like the US where we have medical care that ends up costing the public. That's not right," she said. MacMillian said she would like to see the next provincial government work with the federal government to improve funding for healthcare in northern communities. What candidates had to say CBC News asked all the candidates in northwestern Ontario how they plan to address their constituent's healthcare concerns in the ridings of Thunder Bay—Superior North, Thunder Bay—Atikokan, Kenora–Rainy River and Kiiwetinoong. Each candidate was provided the same questions and timeframe to respond. Popular promises included getting all Ontarians a primary care provider by 2029, increasing medical school spots and hiring more internationally trained doctors. Responses were received from 10 of the 16 candidates by deadline. Scroll through the photo gallery to read a synopsis of each of their responses.
