WHEREAS approximately 134,000 people in the Champlain health region currently do not have a family doctor, with the waitlist for a referral in Ottawa quadrupling since 2017; and
WHEREAS a referral from a doctor or nurse practitioner is frequently required to access health care services, and having a family doctor contributes to better health outcomes, enhanced patient quality of life and improved health system costs and efficiencies; and
WHEREAS 80 percent of Ontarians cite a lack of family doctors as a healthcare concern and there are only 15,000 family doctors across Ontario, with 20 percent set to retire within the next five years; and
WHEREAS wait times to see a doctor in Ottawa emergency departments are among the highest in the province, upwards of three hours compared to the provincial average of 1.9 hours; and
WHEREAS there are options to improve physician availability that require cooperation from other levels of government, including simplifying the process for foreign-trained physicians to practice in Ontario and reviewing and expanding incentives; and
WHEREAS all of these concerns have been exacerbated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Mayor Watson write to the Premier of Ontario and the Minister of Health requesting that substantive action be taken to reduce waiting times for Ottawa residents in need of a family physician, and request that supports be made available to establish more family medicine clinics throughout the City of Ottawa.