Ontario’s healthcare system faces a gargantuan challenge: restoring it to an adequate level of service. The first step is acknowledging the true size of the problem, a truth the Doug Ford government has consistently avoided.
It’s no secret Ontario lacks healthcare workers – nurses, doctors, personal support workers (PSWs) – across the board. Yet, the government remains reluctant to disclose the exact number of additional personnel needed, both presently and in the coming years. This secrecy reached absurd heights when the government denied a Global News request for projections on nurses and PSWs, citing potential harm to their bargaining position during contract negotiations.
This excuse was laughable given widespread knowledge of the shortages. The situation became even more comical when the government’s information office, having denied the numbers to Global News, released them in response to a separate request by The Canadian Press.
The real issue isn’t a freedom-of-information snafu; it’s the Ford government’s failure to establish clear targets for healthcare hiring, craft a rational plan to achieve those targets, and report on progress.
Instead, the narrative revolves around a cheery story of newly hired nurses, opening medical schools, and additional hospital and long-term care beds. While all are commendable steps, progress needs context.
For example, the government frequently touts that 60,000 nurses have registered in the province since 2018. This sounds impressive, but are we making headway against the nursing shortage? The very numbers the government tried to conceal paint a grim picture – a worsening shortage, not improvement.
In 2022, Ontario faced a shortfall of 6,000 nurses. By 2032, that number is projected to balloon to a staggering 33,200. The situation with PSWs is even more concerning. In 2022, the province needed 24,100 more of these vital workers. By 2032, the projected need jumps to a whopping 50,853.
Part of the challenge is the ever-changing healthcare workforce landscape. Last year, the province’s Financial Accountability Office conducted a study of future healthcare worker demand. Their findings echoed the discouraging numbers already known. Their report stated, “Relative to projected growth in demand, by 2027-28, Ontario will have less hospital capacity, similar home-care capacity and less long-term care capacity compared to what it had in 2019-20.”
The Ford government focuses on the number of new healthcare workers added, but that’s just one side of the coin. The College of Nurses of Ontario, the governing body for the profession, reported that while 15,000 new nurses registered in 2023, a concerning 9,000 nurses did not renew their licenses.
The information released through the access request remained silent on the doctor shortage. The situation here mirrors that of nurses. The Ontario College of Family Physicians estimates a staggering 2.3 million Ontarians lack a family doctor, with that number potentially doubling by 2026. Expanding medical schools, as the province has proposed, won’t solve this problem alone.
The healthcare workforce requirement is a moving target due to Ontario’s rapidly growing and aging population. The government must not only address the current shortage but also meet the ever-expanding demand.
While the Ford government’s direction with initiatives like hospital bed funding and long-term care home construction isn’t inherently wrong, these efforts are meaningless without staff to operate these facilities. This is a glaring truth the government seems determined to avoid.
Openness and honesty are needed, not dodging and weaving. The Ford government requires a concrete plan, one backed by hard numbers. Firstly, they need to dramatically increase the capacity for all types of healthcare training to meet the province’s own projected needs. Secondly, they must maximize the capacity of the existing workforce.
For family doctors, this could involve government-funded assistants to alleviate the paperwork burden. Instead, last month, the government offered a plan to reduce the number of sick notes doctors write. Additionally, they aim to “streamline” a dozen cumbersome government forms and eliminate fax machines in doctors’ offices “over the next few years.” These are hardly substantive solutions for the 21st century.
Undoubtedly, highlighting the magnitude of the healthcare worker shortage isn’t politically appealing for the Ford government. However, the situation is far from a secret. Organizations representing healthcare workers consistently release concerning figures. The government needs to reclaim control of the narrative.
The path forward lies in a plan with clear numbers and consequential actions. This plan should not only offer hope to patients but also to the healthcare heroes – doctors, nurses, and PSWs – who are constantly asked to do too much with too little.
