The Ontario College of Family Physicians says new data shows almost 55,000 people in Simcoe County do not have a family doctor — and they say this number could nearly double in the next two years alone.
“Family medicine is under enormous strain right now due to system-wide issues,” Dr. Mekalai Kumanan, president of the Ontario College of Family Physicians, said in a news release.
However, Kumanan believes it’s possible to turn the crisis around “and let family doctors get back to what they most want, which is to be there for their patients.
The college notes several factors are contributing to the shortage, including challenges in retaining family doctors.
According to the college's data, many physicians report they are being driven from the profession due to issues such as the "overwhelming administrative burden, lack of team supports and compensation that has not kept pace with inflation."
“By supporting family doctors now we can ensure that Ontarians have access to the kind of quality care they expect for years to come,” Kumanan said.
Dr. Chibuike Chizea, who's a family physician in Barrie, agrees with Kumanan. He says family doctors are not getting enough supports to do their work.
“We see better outcomes and have happier patients when they are seen in a setting that provides care through a team of other health-care providers, like nurse practitioners, physician assistants under the same roof, so that patients can be seen by the appropriate provider at the right time,” Chizea said in a phone interview.
“We are not trying to replace family doctors, we just need this support that we can function. More needs to be done," he added.
Administrative work is one of the main points of contention Ontario doctors would like to see improved upon.
Chizea says he typically faces 19 hours of paperwork per week.
“Personally, for every six hours I see patients, I can do two to three hours of paperwork, and that is time taken away from seeing patients,” he explained.
The sheer cost of running a medical office is also significant, according to Chizea.
“I started my practice in 2021 and I’ve seen that cost go up,” he said. “We haven’t had any (significant) increases in compensation for a while now, and even the slight increase we have seen does not match the rate of inflation. Doctors are having difficulty paying their overhead.”
Premier Doug Ford’s government also says it wants to build 1.5 million home in Ontario by 2031, but what about a plan for health-care infrastructure which needs to grow in lockstep with that housing plan?
“We need to address all these problems at the same time,” Chizea said. “More investment is needed in recruiting and retaining current physicians. I think it’s important for the government to focus on that as well.”
Health Minister Sylvia Jones, who is also the deputy premier, stopped in Barrie last week to announce more than $9.8 million in funding to support primary-care teams across Simcoe County, Bruce County and York Region.
Jones said Ontario is the first province to fund an "innovative model of care" consisting of nurse practitioner-led clinics.
“It’s a positive step in the right direction,” Chizea said of Friday's announcement. “Nurse practitioners are valuable members in primary care health. It will provide some relief, but based on the numbers we have seen, we are going to need more of that. We (also) need to recruit and retain more family physicians.”
He believes if a patient can access the health-care system through a family physician, there are cost savings for everyone.
“A lot of people go to the ER to assess care, and some of this care is not appropriate for the ER," Chizea said. "And it costs more to take care of someone’s high blood pressure in the ER than in an office of a family physician.
“When you see patients (regularly) and manage their chronic diseases, you prevent hospital admissions, hospital stays — and this in turn provides more savings, better patient experience, and better outcomes," he added.
