To the editor,
The last week has been a tough one for residents of the Fort Frances-Rainy River area, particularly so for the elderly, and those with underlying health problems. First there was the news that, due to the paramedic shortage, the Emo ambulance station was being temporarily closed. Then came the news that all three doctors in Rainy River would be ending their service, meaning that the Rainy River Health Centre could be shutting its doors.
Across Canada we are experiencing a shortage of health-care workers. But the problem continues to be worse in rural and northern areas. In a world where technological and scientific innovations ought to be making health-care better, for many rural and northern Canadians, the opposite is happening.
Let me say at the outset that although health care is an area of shared jurisdiction, most health care is provided by the provinces. They are the ones who are responsible for hospitals, ambulance services, etc. Having said that, as a member of the governing federal party, and as someone who has spent a fair bit of time in Ottawa dealing with health-care issues, the federal government has done a fair bit to address this issue. Notably our government increased transfer payments to the provinces by $46.2 billion over 10 years ($8.4 billion in Ontario). Furthermore, we attached conditions on those transfers including a requirement that the money be used to increase the number of frontline health-care workers and that the province made it easier for foreign trained practitioners to be licensed in Canada.
Through the efforts of the federal and provincial governments, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, and teaching institutions like the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM), we are making progress in addressing the doctor shortage in rural areas.
For example, by increasing medical school enrollment at NOSM, and increasing the number of family practice residency positions at NOSM. In addition, we now allow family practitioners from the UK, the USA, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand to practice in Canada. Lastly, in Ontario there is now a fast-track for foreign graduate certifications through Practice Ready Assessments. It is my understanding that we are also making similar progress in addressing the nursing shortage. All of this however is of no solace to people living in the Fort Frances-Rainy River area. Clearly, assistance is not getting there fast enough.
I am not party to the nitty gritty of what we are, and are not, doing to get people to the affected areas as this is an area of provincial jurisdiction. I am however, as a long time Thunder Bay ER physician, and someone who has done a few shifts in both the Fort Frances and Kenora ER's (as well as working for quite a few years as a doctor in small towns and isolated areas) willing to do what I can to help the province in addressing the issue.
I think there are things we can do, that perhaps would help to address the health-care workforce shortage, and which have a federal component.
Since we can't find enough Canadians for some health-care professions, I think we ought to consider how we can make it easier, and more attractive, for both recent immigrants and refugees (like the Afghans and Ukrainians who have come recently), and foreign students (who are already in the country) to enter the paramedic programs offered at Seven Generations and Confederation College.
Tuition for the program is free after-all (in exchange for a commitment to stay for a certain number of years in the community). I am absolutely certain there is no shortage of people worldwide who, if given an opportunity to get a decent paying job in a place like Emo or Rainy River, would jump at the opportunity.
More generally, I am advocating for reinstating the federal Office of Rural Health. This office existed briefly, for a few years starting in 1998. The purpose of the office would be to take a leading position in trying to improve the provision of health care in rural areas.
Whether we live in Newfoundland, Ontario, or the Yukon, rural Canadians face the same challenges accessing health care. One of these problems is getting the bureaucrats and policy makers who live in the capitals to address our problems. This is an uphill battle when the majority of the population, and most of the people with money, live in the urban areas. Although in each province the rural population may constitute a small population, across the country they constitute a significant population.
Rural Canadians deserve better health care than they are getting.
Sincerely,
Dr. Marcus Powlowski, MP Thunder Bay-Rainy River
