A Failing System – Ontarians recognize our health system is trending in the wrong direction

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

We are here today, not in celebration, but in recognition. Recognition of a truth that has become painfully clear. The cracks in our healthcare system, those hairline fractures we ignored for too long, have become gaping wounds.

The promise of ending hallway medicine now echoes as an empty vow. The reality is stark: wait times stretch into agonizing months, diagnostic imaging becomes a distant dream, specialist appointments a lottery ticket, and surgeries a battle against time. This one I can speak to personally; I had to wait over two years to get a fibroid removed, and in that time, it grew eight to nine centimeters.

I spoke with a community member who shares with me that her son has been waiting for a specialist appointment for six months. Six months. They say it’s not urgent, but every day, she sees him struggle. “I see the fear in his eyes,” she shares with me. How long before “not urgent” becomes “too late”?

We knew there were gaps. We knew the system was strained, but the pandemic… it acted as a brutal stress test, exposing the fundamental flaws we can no longer ignore. The doctor shortages, the emergency room closures… these are not isolated incidents. They are symptoms of a systemic failure.

We were told things would improve. We were told the government had a plan, but where is the plan when my neighbour, a man who worked his whole life, waits in agony for a hip replacement? Where is the plan when our seniors are left without adequate home care? Where is the plan when our children can’t access mental health support?

Medical professionals, those on the front lines, speak of a system in crisis. A crisis that bleeds into every aspect of our province: our economy, our communities, our very well-being. The lack of access to timely care breeds anxiety, despair, and a sense of abandonment.

According to the Ontario Nurses’ Association (ONA), in 2022, about 25 hospitals across the province had to scale back services over the August long weekend as a direct result of staffing shortages. Despite being the country’s most respected professions, nursing and doctor job positions across the province and Canada were desperately understaffed.

One million people in Ontario (and 5 million in Canada) don’t have a family doctor. Meanwhile, paramedics say their response time is slowing as a result of offload delays. Medical staff across the board were experiencing exhaustion, overwhelmed by a workload directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In February 2024, The OurCare Initiative led by Dr. Tara Kiran, a family doctor and scientist with the MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital conducted a national survey, assembling five “provincial priorities panels” and convening a series of community roundtables for 16 months. This Toronto-based research team met with and surveyed some 10,000 Canadians about the state of the health-care system and what they found is deep dissatisfaction and frustration with primary care. Primary care was falling short. Far too many people didn’t have access to what is the front door to the health-care system. Unfortunately, it seemed like we were a country of have and have-nots.

The report found evidence of what it called an “attachment crisis” — an estimated 22% of Canadian adults (about 6.5 million people) did not have a family doctor, or nurse practitioner they could see regularly.

The problem appears to be getting worse.

A survey conducted by Ipsos on behalf of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) revealed that the majority of Ontarians believe the health care crisis is worse now than it was a year ago. The Ontario Medical Association represents Ontario’s 43,000-plus physicians, medical students and retired physicians, advocating for and supporting doctors while strengthening the leadership role of doctors in caring for patients. Their vision is to be the trusted voice in transforming Ontario’s health-care system.

The poll found:

• 68% of Ontarians say the healthcare system is worse than it was a year ago.
• 83% agree that wait times for surgeries, specialist appointments, and diagnostic tests such as MRI’s – have worsened.
• Nearly six in ten Ontarians (59%) say the government has not fulfilled its promise to end hallway medicine.

“These numbers confirm what doctors see every day: the crisis in health care is getting worse, not better,” said Dr. Dominik Nowak, president of the Ontario Medical Association. “Ontarians deserve timely access to doctors, specialists, and emergency care. Health care is a severe concern for Ontarians and should be a top priority this election.”

The Ontario election is on Thursday February 27^th, 2025, and Ontarians are looking to candidates for answers to the challenges they experience when they need to rely on a health care system that should always be there for them. There are plenty of obstacles Ontarians will confront in the coming years, and doctors believe our healthcare system should not be one of them. Rather, it should be a guarantee Ontarians can count on as they navigate an uncertain economic future.

Ontario’s doctors want what is best for their patients and have outlined their recommendations in the OMA Stop the Crisis. Ontarians recognize our health system is trending in the wrong direction and in need of leaders keen to resolve our current challenges.

“A strong economy depends on a strong health-care system,” shares Dr. Nowak. “When patients can’t get timely surgeries, or specialist care, they can’t work, and when people avoid the emergency department because of long wait times, serious health issues can go undiagnosed or untreated, leading to even worse outcomes.”

Health care is on the ballot this election. Ontario’s doctors encourage all Ontarians to learn about each party’s commitment to improving access to care and wait times. With nearly seven in ten Ontarians saying the system has deteriorated in just the past year, the OMA urges voters to demand real solutions from their candidates and consider their commitments to improving the health-care system when they cast their vote.

This is not just a political issue; this is a human issue. This is about the fundamental right to health, to dignity, to life. We must demand a system that prioritizes patients, that invests in our healthcare workers, that restores hope.

We are not here to assign blame. We are here to acknowledge the reality. To acknowledge: the pain, the frustration, the fear that exists in our communities in Ontario. We are here to demand change. There is hope; the hope that, together, we can rebuild, we can heal, we can restore the promise of a healthcare system that serves all Ontarians.