To EDs/admin leads, board chairs and lead clinicians of AFHTO member teams
Dear members,
This morning the government released its 5-point Plan to Stay Open: Health System Stability and Recovery.
With a plan to focus on protecting hospital capacity and supporting long-term care, we are disappointed that there was no tangible supports for primary care as a key component in health system stability and recovery. Other than noting one way to ease emergency pressures on emergency departments- “increased access to the family health organization model of primary care will improve access to primary care and reduce demand for emergency department care”– the plan does not address the considerable backlog of mental health and addiction, chronic disease, cancer screening, and vaccination that is coming through your doors. And while primary care is only notionally addressed, mental health and addiction is not addressed at all.
AFHTO will continue to advocate with our partners to push the government and Ontario Health to add needed supports in primary care. They have acknowledged primary care is an important part of the healthcare system and know the challenges it faces, so the question remains: why is it forgotten?
Here are the highlights:
Preserving our Hospital Capacity
- Continue to provide access to testing for COVID-19, Paxlovid and Evusheld therapies for treatment for those who are eligible, with plans on expanding eligibility for Evusheld for high-risk populations in the coming weeks.
- COVID-19 shots and flu shots will continue to be provided to Ontarians.
- Free rapid antigen tests will continue to be available at participating grocery and pharmacy retailers as well as for workplaces, schools, and congregate settings.
- Extend temporary COVID-19 physician funding.
Providing the Right Care in the Right Place
- Expanding the 9-1-1 models of care to include additional ailments and giving paramedics the flexibility to provide better, more appropriate care to divert patients from ERs.
- There will be several initiatives to help avoid unnecessary hospitalizations, improve the process for ambulance offloading, and reintroduce respite services in long-term care.
- Ontario is introducing legislation that, if passed, will support patients whose doctors have said they no longer need hospital treatment and should instead be placed in a long-term care home, while they wait for their preferred home.
- Continue and expand funding of community paramedicine.
Further Reducing Surgical Waitlists
- Invest over $300 million in 2022–23 as part of the province’s surgical recovery strategy.
- Work with hospitals to identify innovative solutions to reduce wait times for surgeries and procedures, including considering options for further increasing surgical capacity by increasing the number of OHIP-covered surgical procedures performed at independent health facilities.
- Increase surgeries in paediatric hospitals and existing private clinics covered by OHIP, as well as fund more than 150,000 additional operating hours for hospital-based MRI and CT machines.
Easing Pressure on our Emergency Departments
- Increase access to the FHO model of primary care to reduce demand for ERs.
- Launch a new provincial emergency department peer-to-peer program to provide additional on-demand, real-time support and coaching from experienced emergency physicians to aid in the management of patients presenting to rural emergency departments.
- Adding 400 physician residents to support the workforce in northern and rural Ontario.
- Working with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario to expedite the registration of doctors, including those from out-of-province and who may want to work in rural and northern emergency departments, so they can start working and caring for patients sooner.
Further Expanding Ontario’s Health Workforce
- Expand funding for the supervised practice experience partnership program which has already supported over 600 international nurses in getting licensed since January. The province anticipates that by the end of the fiscal year another 400 international nurses will gain the practice and language requirements necessary to work in Ontario.
- Working with the College of Nurses of Ontario to reduce the financial barriers that may be stopping some retired or internationally trained nurses from receiving accreditation to resume or begin practicing by temporarily covering the cost of examination, application, and registration fees, saving them up to $1,500.
- The province is aware that agency rates have increased significantly, creating instability for hospitals, long-term care homes and emergency departments. In response, Ontario will engage with frontline partners to better understand how to bring stability to hospitals and emergency departments, while protecting quality of care.
The government notes these actions will “see faster access to health care, including lower wait times in emergency departments, lower wait times for surgical procedures and more care options right in their communities” and that “this will add up to 6,000 more health care workers. Combined with the initiatives included in the first phase of the plan that are adding 13,000 more staff, the two plans together are adding 19,000 more health care workers.” However, the actual number of health care workers that have left the system remains unknown.
AFHTO will continue to work with the government and encourages local advocacy with MPPs. Many teams have new MPPs, so now is also a good time to reach out for introductions and to provide general info about the care you provide to some of their constituents. Those MPPs can then help inform government about the critical work you do in their communities, and how important it is for a stable, effective healthcare system that provides the best care and reduces demand on hospitals.
The advocacy material from the campaign is still relevant – the advocacy is simply now to your MPP instead of multiple candidates – and members can expect more material this fall after the Community Health Compensation Working Group has completed its Ontario Community Health Market Salary Review with our compensation consultant.
Thank you for the work you all do every day. If you have any questions, please reach out to us any time.
Yours in good health,
The AFHTO Team