Burlington Council unanimously voted to pass a resolution to support the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) in pushing the provincial government to address the province-wide physician shortage during a meeting this morning (Sept. 17).
According to the OMA and AMO, 2.3 million people in Ontario do not have a family doctor, and around 40 per cent of family doctors working in Ontario are considering retiring in the next five years.
“We know how hard it can be to get a family doctor here in Burlington,” Ward 3 Councillor Rory Nisan said. “We know what wait times can be like at emergency rooms, wait times for specialists having consequences on people's health and the challenges of care for our elderly. I’m no expert on this matter, but I’m very happy to support this.”
The physician shortage is especially bad in northern Ontario, where communities need around 350 more physicians than they currently have. 200 of those empty positions are family doctors.
Ward 2 Councillor Lisa Kearns voiced her support for the resolution by attending the meeting virtually from an emergency room she was waiting at due to an unspecified medical emergency.
“As I look around at the faces that are in front of me right now, I wonder how many individuals wouldn’t be here if they had access to care from a primary care physician,” she said. “There are four, six, eight or nine hour waits for walk-in clinics. I think we can do much better for all of our residents and patients and continue to advocate at the provincial level for improvements here.”
As of 2023, Ontario ranks last in per capita healthcare spending compared to other provinces, spending nearly $1,000 less per person than Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.
The resolution was sent to Premier Doug Ford, as well as to other local municipalities across the Halton region.
