OMA president warns healthcare cuts will be felt in Hamilton

The president of the Ontario Medical Association iswarning that Hamiltonians looking for a family doctor will have a harder time than ever and emergency room wait times could swell in the coming year.

Dr. Ved Tandan, a Hamilton cancer specialist who works at the Juravinski Cancer Centre and St. Joes, has been leading the year-long negotiations between the OMA and the province. Last week they fell apart.

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Now, Ontario doctors will see a cut to fee-for-service payments starting Feb. 1 as the province tries to eliminate a $12.5-billion deficit. Health Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins has said the reduction will trim physicians salaries but wont have any impact on quality of health care nor the services offered in Ontario. On CBC's Metro Morning, he said for the OMA to suggest so is "reckless" and "unprofessional."

Tandan, who is travelling throughout Ontario this week to speak with doctors and the media about the negotiations and the OMA's position, says thats not true.

"The cuts the government is making is going to make it almost impossible for new doctors to enter family practice in Ontario and theyre going to leave the province,"Tandan said, noting some 900,000 Ontarians dont have a family doctor.

Without the ability see a family doctor, many more patients will wind up in emergency rooms, Tandan said, an unwanted outcome that could inflate already lengthy wait times.

The government plans to increase its overall spending on doctors by 1.25 per cent, despite itsown estimates that show the demand for health care will likely grow by at least 2.7 per cent, Tandan said. That growth is being driven by three things: a shortage of doctors in the province, an estimated 140,000 new patients a year moving to Ontario many requiring treatment after coming from places lacking robust health care systems and the aging population.

I dont see how they can say that there will be the same amount of services, Tandan said.

Ontario focused on 'sustainability' of healthcare: Health Minister

Hoskins, in a news release issued last week after talks stopped, said the government is focused on the "sustainability of our health care system" and added "in this time of fiscal constraint, any new spending must prioritize services such as home care and community care."

Hoskins said he was "disappointed" talks with the OMA stopped, but that the government would move ahead with its plan anyway.

Tandansaid Ontario doctors will not pursue any job action but want to get back to negotiations. He said an offer from doctors to freeze their fees for two years so long as the government pays for the entire 2.7 per cent of growth still stands.

"We're ready to go back to the table today," Tandan said, adding negotiating in the media isn't the ideal way to get an agreement done.

There are no meetings scheduled at this time.