In Canada, any federal and provincial election has a serious healthcare component to it.
This provincial election is no different. Healthcare services in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound have been under pressure for many years. Smaller rural hospitals in the riding have had to cut back on emergency room access. The hospital in Durham recently lost all of its in-patient beds when they were moved to other sites.
In January, thousands of residents lined up in frigid temperatures in Walkerton for the chance to get on a patient list of a family physician accepting new patients.
Local municipalities have also been pondering their role in attracting new doctors to their communities. Across the province, the use of financial incentives to attract doctors has been growing.
Candidates running in this election to be the next MPP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound have a lot to say on the healthcare issue.
When asked how the doctor shortage issue and healthcare crisis can be tackled, Green candidate Joel Loughead said the solution is straightforward.
“We fund it. That’s how we tackle this problem,” he said.
Loughead noted if the government cut out wasteful spending on projects like Highway 413, the Ontario Place deal and the $285 million for the pumped storage project proposed in Meaford, there would be plenty of funds to help communities recruit and retain physicians.
“When you ask the physicians, which I’ve done by the way, I have sat down with all three physicians in Markdale. I have asked them what we need to do to have better access to primary care and that’s exactly what they say. They just need provincial funding, which can and should exist,” said Loughead. “Doug Ford doesn’t both get to say there is no money for it and then also get to hand out $200 cheques – $200 bribes – to every individual in the province and $10 billion for a highway nobody wants.”
Liberal candidate Selwyn Hicks says while Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford wants a campaign about tariffs – he feels this is a healthcare election.
“It’s clearly the biggest issue in this election,” Hicks said. “Two and a half million people in Ontario don’t have a family doctor. We seem to be the epicenter of it right here (in Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound).”
Hicks was referring to the lineups for a doctor in Walkerton.
“Walkerton is six minutes from my home and 1,000-plus people lined up in the cold starting at 3 a.m. for the possibility of getting on the waiting list,” said Hicks. “That’s, frankly, shameful because without a family doctor, you don’t even have entrance into the medical/healthcare system. Doctors are the key.”
Hicks praised the province for taking steps to expand the role pharmacists play in the healthcare system and he said he was proud during his time as warden of Grey County’s initiative to expand community paramedicine to take pressure off of local hospitals.
“We need to shift the priorities from things like beer in convenience stores and $200 cheques and put them to things that really matter like healthcare,” said Hicks. “We’ve got a crisis on our hands. I think we need to be squarely focused on good ideas to improve healthcare in Ontario.”
Progressive Conservative candidate Paul Vickers said the healthcare crisis has been building for a number of years and praised the current PC government for its commitment to implement real programs to address the issues.
“We didn’t get into this dilemma with healthcare overnight. It’s been coming for a few years. COVID really accelerated and made it worse,” said Vickers, who said Ontario’s growing population has placed great strain on the entire healthcare system.
Vickers credited the current government for implementing real, grassroots programs designed to help alleviate the pressure on the healthcare system. He pointed to the government’s “learn and stay” program, which allows those studying to be a nurse or looking to upgrade from being a PSW to a nurse to have their tuition paid if they agree to stay in the local area.
“We have one over at Georgian College in Owen Sound. You are able to get your tuition back if you agree to stay in the area afterwards,” said Vickers. “To have Georgian College be able to do the nursing program again is a great asset. It helps people who don’t want to leave the area. It allows more people the ability to get a nursing education.”
Vickers noted that each learn and stay class has 60 students.
“That’s 60 new nurses that have trained in the area, probably live in the area and quite likely will stay in the area,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s the answer to everything, but it’s certainly a good step in the right direction.”
NDP candidate James Harris said healthcare is the defining issue of the campaign so far.
“Everywhere I’m going, people are talking to me about being able to access a doctor,” he said, noting that the NDP has a plan to address the issue to ensure everybody in the province can access a doctor or nurse practitioner. “Within the first 100 days, we’re committed to getting family health teams going.”
Harris said the privatization of health services that has been happening under the current government must stop and the money invested back into the public system.
“You don’t want to be paying for healthcare. That’s something Doug Ford has been doing with the privatization," said Harris, who said the cost differences between public and private options are “stark”. “It really burns my biscuits. We should not be paying this much for the services we deserve.”