GUELPH — Mike Schreiner released the following statement in response to renewed warnings from the OMA that Ontario does not have enough family doctors to meet demand in communities across the province.
“Despite warning after warning about a primary care system on the brink of collapse, the government is still asleep at the wheel.
For years now, our primary care system has been pushed to its limits by rising costs, administrative burdens and underfunding from government.
As older physicians retire from practice, the younger doctors to replace them simply aren’t there.
This won’t change until this government makes it a priority to fix the cracks in a broken system.
That means expanding access to family health teams in communities across the province, increasing opportunities for physicians to join team-based models of care, and reducing administrative burdens within the primary care system.
It also means committing to fair pay and better working conditions for the nurses and healthcare workers who work with primary care teams to keep our system running.”