Community News

THE THREE KEYS TO HEALTH CARE SUSTAINABILITY

COVID-19 HAS PUT INCREDIBLE STRAIN ON THE SYSTEM, WRITES ROB MACISAAC

Column Rob MacIsaac is president and CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences.

With an election fast approaching, the future of health care is top of mind for many people in Hamilton. The COVID-19 pandemic has placed incredible strain on the health-care system we all rely on. As a result, no matter which party is elected in June, the Government of Ontario must continue with significant, long-term investments in health services and planning. Three areas of improvement in particular deserve attention if we are to ensure timely access to health services for everyone who needs them.

Reducing the service backlog that has accrued during the pandemic is a top priority. Postponed diagnostics, surgeries and other delayed procedures have increased the amount of untreated illness in our communities. There is now an estimated backlog of 25,000 adult and pediatric patients waiting to be seen in Hamilton and the surrounding region. This cannot be overcome without aggressive investment in innovative solutions to increase health service capacity. We cannot go back to the way things were before the pandemic — we need to find new approaches.

It is also vital to renew the oldest hospital facilities in Ontario. This was made evident during the pandemic, as COVID-19 spread quickly through hospital wards built to meet infection standards from a bygone era. Ambulances lined up outside facilities without adequate beds. Fortunately, in Hamilton, the redevelopment of Juravinski Hospital was recently approved by the province to proceed to the next stage of planning. This project will see the replacement of several outdated patient care towers. It will add over a hundred new hospital beds. To see this through, our community must rally behind the project, advocate to the province for its quick completion and fundraise in support of the costs not covered.

Still, new facilities are only as good as the staff inside them. Health human resources in Ontario, and much of Canada, are at a critically low level. Employment vacancies are rising for the workers we need to maintain timely access to care. This includes registered nurses, health care aids and certain types of physicians. Training, recruiting and retaining sufficient health-care workers to meet the needs of a growing and aging population will make or break the future of our health care system. Hamilton Health Sciences has been working with local academic partners, particularly Mohawk College, to bring nursing trainees into the workplace as quickly as possible. Investing to expand this program would help alleviate our shortages in the near term.

Our health-care system is experiencing a pivotal moment of change and opportunity. The ideas above are only a few of the many we must consider.

OPINION

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2022-05-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

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