There are close to 65,000 people without a family doctor in Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo, according to the Ontario College of Family Physicians.
The group pulled the data from Inspire Family Health Care, which also says that there are now 2.2 million Ontarians without a family doctor, a number which has risen by 400,000 since 2020.
“This government has the ability to change the course of healthcare for millions of Ontarians,” said OCFP chief executive Kimberly Moran. “The recent government announcement to invest in 18 new teams is a step in the right direction, and it’s clear that we need multiple solutions if we are going to make lasting and meaningful change.
OCFP said the province needs to take urgent action to address the issue and the organization’s president, Dr. Mekalai Kumanan, said there are other issues that also need to be fixed.
“Family doctors care deeply about patients, but overwhelming administrative tasks and a lack of team support are burning us out and taking time that would be better spent with patients,” stated Kumanan, who practises in Cambridge.
Doctors say that on average, they are spending 19 hours a week performing administrative tasks but they believe there are more efficient ways to handle the paperwork.
The OCFP released a list of recommendations that it believes allow more residents access to a family doctor.
They say that replacing outdated digital systems and hiring more health care support staff would free up doctors to have more time with patients.
“Right now, 75 per cent of family doctors and their patients in Ontario do not have access to this kind of team support,” the release notes.
The doctors say that the latest data shows that the most vulnerable in the region are the least likely to have a family doctor.
There are 387,572 patients across Kitchener, Waterloo, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich but within that group 13,163 of the lowest income earners and 9,744 of those who live in racialized communities do not have a family doctor.
The doctors’ report says that 6,000 people suffering from mental illness and 2,500 more people with diabetes are also without a family doctor.
It is a similar story at the other end of the region where 146,241 are managed by the Cambridge-North Dumfries Ontario Health Team.
Those without a family doctor include 3,260 of the lowest income earners, 1,719 who live in racialized communities, 1,750 with mental illness, and nearly 750 with diabetes.
Comments