This article originally appeared in the Winter 2021 issue of the Ontario Medical Review magazine.
Visit to the north deepened understanding of health-care issues
I never thought the first time I’d be meeting with a group of members in person would be five months into my presidency. We have COVID-19 to thank for the brief hiatus from face-to-face meetings, but I couldn’t be happier for this return to normalcy.
There is something special about meeting and engaging in person; an energy is exchanged that can only be felt through human contact. It’s why our first family gatherings post-lockdown felt meaningful because stories, happy or sad, are more poignant and impactful when shared from across a table than delivered through a screen.
Where the story is told also matters, as the message is connected to the people and places where it originated. I experienced this first-hand in Sudbury where we recently launched our recommendations to improve health care in northern Ontario.
Anyone who’s travelled knows the deep appreciation that comes after visiting a place and seeing and experiencing things that previously, you only read or heard about.
For me, it was hearing emotional, first-hand accounts from emergency department doctors who work in mental health and suicide prevention describing frequent re-admissions and the urgent need to address the social determinants of health and create better strategies for continuity of care.
It was hearing the story of loss from a mother whose child died of an opioid overdose.
It was visiting the Northern Ontario School of Medicine and speaking with academics, trainees and local physicians about the importance of studying and working in the community — and what that means for physician recruitment and retention.
Communities and hospitals are spread out in the north and even internet connectivity can be sparse. I travel regularly to Sudbury (what most would consider the southernmost part of the north) to provide spasticity treatment for patients as part of my clinical practice and often need to travel 10 to 20 kilometres between patients.
At a roundtable with physicians, nurses, educators and community members, I heard about the distances travelled to provide care to patients in rural and fly-in communities and difficulties in accessing care when the nearest hospital is a two-and-a-half hour drive away. It’s clear that integrated care and supporting one another is crucial in this rural and remote setting. Care is shared between doctors, and similar struggles are also shared because of physician and nursing shortages, distance to deliver and access care and a lack of infrastructure.
I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to make connections and learn about the daily practice of our colleagues in the north and the creative solutions they’ve implemented to provide superb patient care, despite the unique challenges. Their tight-knit community speaks to the power of unity and being connected despite physical distance — a lesson which could be implemented everywhere in Ontario.
Dr. Adam Kassam
OMA President