TORONTO—Ontario’s doctors continue to send their message to all levels of government that the country is facing chronic under funding of health care. In a statement released by the Ontario Medical Association, doctors voiced their concerns.
OMA asked Canada’s Premiers to show their commitment to health care by increasing the Canada Health Transfer to 35 per cent of the provincial-territorial-health-care spending from the current level of 22 per cent. In their view, this would give Ontario an additional $10 billion which would serve to do several things.
Firstly, it would allow the province to clear the back load of care caused by the pandemic and secondly, it would fix the cracks in the health care system that the OMA believes exist due to COVID-19.
"We're urging the provincial government to take steps in this week's budget to reverse 30 years of chronic under funding by all parties," said OMA president Dr. Adam Kassam. "But Ottawa needs to do its share to put Ontario back on course as being a national leader in health care, for the sake of our patients and our economy."
When addressing the Ontario Budget, the OMA highlighted that Ontario is projected to spend less on health care per capita than any other province or territory. Today, according to CIHI, Ontario’s per capita health-care spending is approximately 8 per cent lower than the average of other provinces and territories. This represents what OMA indicates is the continued declining trend of health care funding for the province.
According to the OMA, “To bring Ontario to the national average would require an investment of about $4.8 billion. Increasing the Canada Health Transfer to 35 per cent of health-care spending would cover this.”
OMA’s statement highlighted that while it was thought that health-care spending be shared equally by the federal, provincial governments and territories, Ottawa’s share has been declining over time. OMA pointed out that, “Today, the Canada Health Transfer funds only an average of 22 per cent of total provincial health-care costs. Ontario has lost billions of dollars that could be used to provide better health care for all its residents.”
As one means of offering a solution to creating a better health care system, the OMA outlined a roadmap with 87 specific recommendations: Prescription for Ontario: Doctors' 5-Point Plan for Better Health Care. These, in their opinion offer, “A comprehensive, integrated solution to ensure that current and new health-care dollars are effectively spent, address the current and new demands that will be placed on the system and improve care for all Ontarians.”
The OMA identified some key demands Ontario's health-care system will face in the coming years as:
- Clearing the backlog of 21 million health-care services built up during the COVID-19 pandemic that will take months and in some cases years to clear.
- The looming mental health tsunami.
- The return of those "missing patients" who did not seek care during the pandemic and now are showing up sicker and with undiagnosed conditions requiring more aggressive treatment.
OMA CEO Allan O’Dette stated, "Spending more money alone is not how to make Ontario a place where people want to live, work and invest. The province also needs more doctors, personal support workers and other health-care professionals at a time when many are retiring or leaving the profession because of burnout exacerbated by working on the front lines of the pandemic."
Another interesting statistic which was highlighted by OMA’s statement was that Ontario ranks seventh among Canadian provinces in the number of doctors per 100,000 patients and continues to have one of the lowest doctor-to-population rankings among OECD countries, specifically 29 out of 33. They add that the shortage is especially acute in northern and rural areas.
