Doctors ready to help solve health-care system challenges

TORONTO, Aug. 9, 2022 — Ontario’s doctors are ready to work with Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones to solve the big challenges facing the health-care system.

The Ontario Medical Association has practical solutions to tackle many of the system-wide issues such as wait times, the shortage of physicians, the lack of long-term and community care beds, and the mental health tsunami. The detailed recommendations in our Prescription for Ontario: Doctors’ 5-Point Plan for Better Health Care are the result of the largest consultation in the OMA’s 140-year history.

“Big problems need big, bold solutions and we have them,” OMA President Dr. Rose Zacharias said Tuesday, following the government’s Speech from the Throne and introduction of its budget bill. “We are looking forward to meeting again with the health minister and others to advance this important work.”

Some of the OMA’s recommendations could be implemented quickly to address current problems:

1. We support the government call for making it easier for foreign-trained physicians and nurses to get licenses to practice in Ontario.
2. We want to work with the government to reduce the administrative burden on physicians, the leading contributor to burnout. Studies have shown that physicians spend two hours on electronic documentation for every one hour of direct patient interaction. We were encouraged to see the government refer to the need to help the “exhausted workforce” that has been on the front lines of the pandemic for more than two years.
3. We encourage the government to create a series of Independent Ambulatory Centres, standalone centres that can perform less complex outpatient surgeries and procedures. This would free up beds and other resources in acute care hospitals, thus reducing wait times.

The OMA appreciates the acknowledgement in the throne speech that more can be done to ease health system pressures in Ontario, and looks forward to working with the government to make that happen. We look forward to seeing more details about the Roadmap to Wellness plan for mental health and addictions care.

About the OMA

The Ontario Medical Association represents Ontario’s 43,000-plus physicians, medical students and retired physicians, advocating for and supporting doctors while strengthening the leadership role of doctors in caring for patients. Our vision is to be the trusted voice in transforming Ontario’s health-care system.

For more information, please contact:
Leslie Shepherd, Director of earned and social media
media@oma.org