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DELIVERING COST-EFFECTIVE PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
"No other initiative holds as much potential for improving
and sustaining our health-care system."
The Romanow Report addressing the importance of primary health care.
Primary
health care is the first point of contact for people who need health services.
And because many social, economic and cultural factors contribute to health
and wellness, primary health care is about more than just treating illness.
It includes programs to promote good health and improve overall quality
of life.
Nearly
ten percent of people in Ottawa and across Ontario don't have access to
a primary health-care provider, leading to unnecessary and inappropriate
use of emergency rooms.
There's
a serious shortage of family physicians both in Ottawa and across Ontario.
Nearly 88 percent of family physicians have partially or fully closed
their practices. And this situation is unlikely to improve as fewer medical
students choose careers in family medicine. In Ontario today, 139 residencies
in family medicine remain vacant.
Nurse
practitioners are specially trained to provide primary care in interdisciplinary
settings and be effective members of health-care teams.
Ontario
has trained nurse practitioners as primary health-care providers, but
this important professional resource is seriously underutilized. Today,
more than 250 nurse practitioners are unemployed or underemployed when
they could provide badly needed primary health care to families.
In
February 2003, the federal government added an immediate $1 billion to
improve the health system, including increased access to primary health
care. Ontario's share in 2003 is approximately $386 million.
Additional
funds are available to improve the accessibility of primary health-care
services and to increase the number and capacity of CHCs. The May 2003
Ontario Estimates show some new funds for primary health care and CHCs.
When new federal funds flow to Ontario, there must be continued new investment
to improve access for all Ontarians to primary health care services.
Community
Health Centres can help improve primary health care in Ontario-but only
if they receive sufficient funding.
Investment
in primary health care provided by community health centres is money well
spent. Better access to quality primary health care lessens the strain
and workload of our hospitals, enabling them to concentrate their resources
where they are needed most.
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