MPP Arnott presses Health Minister to act on local doctor shortage
Queen's Park – Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott today made the following statement in the Ontario Legislature:
“Mr. Speaker,
“I rise this afternoon to inform the House of an urgent health care crisis in Wellington-Halton Hills, which must impel the immediate attention of the Minister of Health.
“In recent days, 3,600 people in the eastern part of Wellington County have lost local access to their family doctors.
“A trusted relationship. Continuity of care. Health service close to home. All these are lost when someone loses a family doctor. When you or someone in your family is sick, you have no alternative but to visit an already-crowded hospital emergency department. In many cases, you'll wait hours for care.
“This Minister of Health, who boasts of being the longest-serving Minister of Health in recent times, has had five years to fix this problem.
“We all know that the roots of the doctor shortage go back to the Bob Rae Government's decision to reduce medical school spaces by up to 15 percent.
“The lasting consequences of that terrible decision have been devastating for public health care in Ontario.
“Just this month, the President of the Ontario Medical Association said that there are a million people in Ontario without a family doctor. On this basic measure of quality of life, Ontario ranks last in Canada under the McGuinty Liberal Government. What an indictment of failure.
“My constituent, Jane Vandervliet of Erin, asks: What are you doing to cure the deathly ill health care system?
“I urge the Minister of Health to address the health care crisis facing Erin, Hillsburgh and Rockwood. Ontarians deserve a plan—one that actually works—from this Minister to solve the doctor shortage, once and for all.” |
