HALIFAX,
NS, July 15, 2024 /CNW/ - As Canada's premiers
convene for their annual Council of the Federation meeting, the
country's national, provincial and territorial medical associations
are urging action to stabilize the health system. We must plan for
a better future, where patients can get the care they need in a
timely fashion and physicians and other health professionals can
work in a safe, well-resourced environment.
All provinces and territories have now signed bilateral health
agreements with the federal government, complete with
accountability measures within four shared health priorities. We
welcome these steps and applaud the hard work and collaboration to
finalize these agreements. Further, we are encouraged by the
efforts of some jurisdictions to increase mobility of health
workers, reduce administrative burden and create team-based care
models and call on others to follow suit.
More than 6.5 million Canadians do not have a family physician.
Patients across the country are routinely forced to wait far too
long for surgeries, diagnostics and life-saving treatments.
Emergency departments routinely operate well beyond capacity.
Meanwhile, climate change is making our already overstretched
health system more vulnerable to climate-related health risks and
emergencies, including floods, wildfires, heat domes and other
extreme weather events.
Solving these challenges and creating meaningful change requires
a collaborative, constructive and focused effort on the part of all
governments.
Canada's medical associations
continue to advocate for tangible solutions to the health care
crisis: investing in physician-led team-based care, implementing
pan-Canadian licensure for physicians, reducing administrative
burden, scaling virtual care, expediting training and licensing for
internationally trained physicians, creating a national health
workforce strategy and greening the health system.
We are eager to collaborate with governments, other health
organizations and patients to ensure a better, more equitable and
sustainable health system for all.
- Alberta Medical Association - Dr. Paul
Parks, President
- Canadian Medical Association, Dr. Joss
Reimer and Dr. Kathleen Ross,
Presidents
- Doctors of British Columbia -
Dr. Ahmer Karimuddin, President
- Doctors Manitoba - Dr.
Randy Guzman, President
- Doctors Nova Scotia - Dr.
Gehad Gobran, President
- Medical Society of Prince Edward
Island - Dr. Krista Cassell,
President
- New Brunswick Medical Society - Dr. Paula Keating, President
- Newfoundland and Labrador
Medical Association - Dr. Steve
Major, President
- Northwest Territories Medical Association - Dr. Katherine Breen, President
- Ontario Medical Association - Dr. Dominik Nowak, President
- Saskatchewan Medical Association - Dr. Andre Grobler, President
- Yukon Medical Association - Dr. Alex
Kmet, President
About the CMA
The Canadian Medical Association leads a national movement
with physicians who believe in a better future of health. Our
ambition is a sustainable, accessible health system where patients
are partners, a culture of medicine that elevates equity, diversity
and wellbeing, and supportive communities where everyone has the
chance to be healthy. We drive change through advocacy, giving and
knowledge sharing – guided by values of collaboration and
inclusion.
SOURCE Canadian Medical Association