DOCTOR SHORTAGE ALREADY A CRISIS IN PEEL

According to the Ontario College of Family Physicians (OCFP), one in five Ontarians could be without a doctor in the next three years.

"Ontario's health-care system is in crisis, and that includes family doctors," said OCFP president-elect Dr. Mekalai Kumanan. "The family doctor shortage will be felt by all, regardless of where we live in Ontario. In some cases, entire families could be without one. We must act now."

Recent research published by the Ontario Community Health Profiles Partnership states that in March 2020, 1.8 million Ontarians didn't have a family doctor,

and another 1.7 million had a doctor over the age of 65 and nearing retirement.

In 2020, the Mississauga Halton LHIN reported having 1,347 family physicians, which is 105 doctors per 100,000 residents.

The Central West Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), which Brampton and Caledon are part of, had the lowest ratio of family physicians in Ontario.

Data shows in 2020 there were 840 family doctors registered in the area covering Brampton, Caledon, Dufferin County and Woodbridge and Rexdale. This equates to 78 doctors per 100,000 residents.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information has data that shows patients with family doctors use emergency rooms less.

Lifelong Brampton resident Carla Chaban has been without a family doctor for seven years and says she must have her name in files at three different walk-in clinics in the city. "You bounce from walk-in to walk-in," she said, explaining that when one is too full, she would try to find another around the city.

In August, Chaban was trying to find her daughter a doctor and saw that one nearby clinic was taking patients. "They said they might be able to see her come November," she said. "It's beyond frustrating."

Chaban and her family aren't alone.

"It's a bad situation," said Brampton family physician Dr. Jobin Varughese, who says he gets inquiries at least three to four times a week from people asking if he is taking on new patients. "I'm pretty sure I'd have another full practice," he said, if he took them all.

"It's frustrating as a physician who works in Brampton," Varughese said, explaining he has a colleague who started in August and is already full due to the number of doctors who have recently retired.

In Brampton, Varughese said he is also challenged by the fact many residents who move away from the city will stay with him, because they are unable to find a physician in the area they move to, leaving him unable to take on

"We have to do something now, it's a crisis now."

- Dr. Jobin Varughese

more patients living in the city.

"We're not going to improve the situation until we see more bodies, more physicians," he said. The pressure for doctors he said is twofold, many doctors are preparing to retire, and there is also a decline in medical students pursuing family medicine.

Varughese said 80 per cent of the unfilled medical residency spots in Ontario are in family medicine. "You have a lot of people going out, and not as many people coming in," he said. "We have to increase our numbers."

Varughese trains medical residents and said Peel isn't actually classified as an area of high need for family medicine. He said that students who do a residency with him, cannot return to serve Brampton after graduation, as it is not classified as being in high need.

"We have to do something now, it's a crisis now," he said, explaining that having a family physician can make the difference in catching a developing disease because they know the patient's history, what they used to look like, how they used to speak.

For residents like Chaban, they don't have that piece of mind.

"I get the notification," she said, explaining she is grateful for the reminders she gets from the provincial government about regular tests and screenings. "But it's not coming from my doctor."

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: This is an important story because everyone needs health care. If one in five Ontarians don't have a family doctor by 2025, that will be an estimated 276,000 people in Peel.