With a significant doctor shortage across Ontario and municipalities duking it out with each other with incentives for new doctors who locate to their towns, we asked the Simcoe-Grey provincial election candidates what they thought about the issue, and what they would do to fix it.
Simcoe-Grey NDP candidate Benten Tinkler declined an interview request.
Here’s what the other candidates said.
Ted Crysler, Liberal Party
Crysler said this issue is a big one for the Ontario Liberal Party, with the party promising, as part of its platform, to get family doctors, primary care providers, nurse practitioners and related care providers together for family health teams and community health centres.
He said the Liberals, if elected, will spearhead provincial incentives for doctors who choose to locate in rural and northern communities.
“Communities shouldn't have to compete with one another (for doctors),” he said. “It's unhealthy. Health care is not municipal. It's provincial. So this is a failure of the provincial government.”
Crysler said the Liberals also pledge to recruit from other provinces and internationally, and make it easier for doctors to come to Ontario from elsewhere.
Allan Kuhn, Green Party
“The downloading of expenses on municipalities shouldn't happen. The province should be funding it. Where else are (municipalities) getting the money?” said Kuhn.
He pointed to the $189 million cost of the current provincial election.
“Instead of funding an election, we should be funding doctors. Where we're spending our money now, could be spent somewhere better,” he said.
Kuhn said he was aware of some Ontario municipalities shelling out big dollars to attract new doctors to their towns.
“I know it happens, but it shouldn't happen,” he said. “We should be paying them properly so they want to come anyway.”
Brian Saunderson, Progressive Conservative Party
“I do think there's a lot of change that's required and I think the province has started with many big undertakings,” said Saunderson, pointing to the Ford government announcing three new medical schools and expanding intake for the Ontario Northern Medical Program.
“Those are the first new medical schools in Ontario in about 20 years, if not longer. We have to expand the pipeline to get the talent,” he said. “We need more doctors, and we've been working very hard on getting more nurses (and) PSWs. We need to recognize and make sure that they're compensated appropriately.”
Overall, Saunderson said the province needs to be more nuanced and strategic in how physicians are trained in a way that makes new doctors want to explore family medicine.
“I know there's a tough business model there,” he said. “There's a number of barriers and so this government is working to try and get rid of those barriers.”
Saunderson said bringing in family health teams across Ontario has been a successful initiative in providing new doctors with the wraparound services they might need to make sure their patients get the best care possible, and that working doctors feel supported.
He notes that Simcoe-Grey is unique in that there are two hospitals within the riding – Collingwood General and Marine Hospital and Stevenson Memorial Hospital.
“That's really spectacular,” he said, noting that both hospitals have received significant investment over the past three years from the Ford government.
“I'm making sure that our rural hospitals get the same attention as our big GTA hospitals,” he said.
Provincial election day is Feb. 27, although early voting is available now. To find out where and how to vote in Simcoe-Grey, click here.