To Executive Directors and Admin. Leads:
AFHTO is sending this email to ensure you are aware that some of your staff may be planning to attend a rally at Queen’s Park on March 3rd. Word is spreading to staff across the province through their various networks. This could affect your FHT/NPLC so you may need to take steps to address patient care on that day.
It is no surprise to learn that staff are joining together to organize this rally to make their case directly to politicians. No doubt you’ve been directly experiencing staff frustration and turnover, and see it escalating rapidly. You likely share this frustration yourself, as you watch the inequity continue to grow in compensation for staff working in AHACs, CHCs, FHTs and NPLCs compared to other health sectors.
AFHTO, together with our colleagues in AOHC and NPAO, continue to meet with ministry staff and political leaders to keep them focused on finding sufficient funding to retain staff in primary care. The gap is becoming particularly acute as the ministry’s Patients First proposal requires a strong foundation of primary care to succeed. There is always the possibility for some good news in 2016-17, but that’s all it is – a possibility.
In the meantime, thank you to so many members who continue to write letters, meet with MPPs and raise awareness of the negative impact this funding gap is having on the province’s ability to deliver comprehensive team-based primary care to keep Ontarians as healthy as possible.
Angie Heydon
CEO, AFHTO
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