Ontario has released a new health care plan that officials say is aimed at reducing wait times and localizing access to care across the province.
Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced details of the “Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care” plan during a news conference Thursday morning in Toronto.
The government also released a 50-page report outlining three main pillars as a framework for progressing the province’s health care plan: The right care in the right place, Faster access to care and Hiring more health workers.
“When it comes to your health and the health of all Ontarians, the status quo is not working,” Jones said at Thursday’s announcement.
“As we put our bold plan into action, you’ll be connected to care when you need it most and where it’s most convenient, whether that’s closer to home in your community or even at home.”
This plan comes on the heels of the government’s new three-tiered approach to expanding for-profit surgical and diagnostic centers.
Ontario doctors said investing in private health care will only exacerbate staff shortages and emergency wait times.
Ontario NDP health care critic and MPP France Gelinas said Thursday residents shouldn’t be “fooled” by the Ford government’s new plan, which it claims is poised to privatize the health care sector.
“The Ford administration has created a crisis in our health care system by underfunding it, limiting workers’ wages and driving health care professionals out of the system,” Gelinas said in a statement.
“Giving private for-profit clinics the freedom to offer health services will mean that those who can afford to pay will get better and faster care, while everyone else will be forced to wait longer.” “
Gelinas adds that the province should instead end Bill 124 and implement a massive recruitment and retention plan where they are paid fairly.
FIRST PILLAR
The first pillar, “The Right Care in the Right Place,” focuses on the localization of health care in Ontario.
To do this, the government said it is expanding its team approach to healthcare, mental health support and pharmacy prescriptions.
The government said it is working to add four additional Ontario Health Teams to its 54 existing ones to help patients transition between health care providers and ensure patients’ medical records follow them wherever they seek care. It will add up to 1,200 doctors to this model over the next two years, the government said.
The plan outlines the addition of eight youth wellness centers, in addition to the 14 already in place, which work to help young people connect with mental health and substance use support, primary care and social services.
The government also reiterated the expansion of 13 drugs that pharmacists can now prescribe, a change that began on January 1.
Finally, the government said it was “declining faxing” by eliminating old machines from doctors’ offices and replacing them with “digital communication alternatives” over the next five years.
PILLAR TWO
The second pillar, Faster Access to Care, aims to tackle long waiting times, the government said.
According to the plan, the government will do this by addressing the backlog and reducing waiting times for operations and procedures.
That will first be addressed by addressing the existing backlog of cataract surgeries — which Ontario says have the longest waits — by issuing four new licenses to health centers in Windsor, Kitchener-Waterloo and Ottawa, the government said.
The province said it is also investing millions more in existing centers to address wait times for MRIs and CT scans, eye surgeries, minimally invasive gynecological surgeries and plastic surgeries.
The government plan said it gives paramedics more flexibility when treating certain patients who call 911, allowing them to treat them in their community rather than in emergency rooms.
“Patients diverted from emergency rooms through these initiatives received the care they needed up to 17 times faster, with 94 percent of patients avoiding the emergency room in the days following treatment,” the 50-page report said.
For long-term care, Ontario says adding nearly 60,000 new and upgraded beds could help address waiting lists and ensure seniors get the care they need in the right place. This is in addition to the more than 3,500 hospital beds the province has built since 2018.
PILLAR THREE
The final pillar, Hiring More Health Workers, will work to expand the province’s workforce through recruitment, training and education initiatives.
Over the next five years, the province said it will expand its education program by adding 10 undergraduate positions and 295 postgraduate medical school positions.
The province said it will also expand its Study and Stay scholarship starting this spring, which will be open to about 2,500 eligible post-secondary students.
The grant covers educational expenses, such as tuition and books, for those who enroll in “high priority programs” in underserved communities — such as nursing, paramedic and medical laboratory — in exchange for up to two years of work in those communities after graduation.
The government reiterated its new “By Right” rules that removed the registration requirement for out-of-province health workers in an effort to lower the barrier to entry to practice in Ontario. The report also outlined the government’s efforts to make it “easier” and “faster” for international nurses to practice in the province.
The plan nods to a new portable benefits program under development that the government has touted in the past as a way to attach health benefits to individual workers instead of employers. There were no further details on what these benefits will entail or when they will release it.
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