Ontarians want a system of care that helps them to stay healthy, delivers good care to them when they get sick and that is there for their children and grandchildren.

The Ontario government shares this vision, and has a comprehensive plan for building a dependable public health care system. The goal is to improve the overall health of Ontarians and the quality of care they receive when accessing services.

This plan is focused on the achievement of three priorities :

1. Reducing Wait Times
2. Providing Better Access to Doctors, Nurses and Other Health Care Professionals
3. Keeping Ontarians Healthy

For many Ontarians, the length of time they spend waiting for a surgical procedure or an x-ray, especially when they have cancer, heart disease, or are suffering from mobility problems, is simply not acceptable.

That's why the government's plan is aimed at reducing wait times and improving access to five major health care services: cancer surgery, cardiac procedures, cataract surgery, hip and knee replacements, as well as MRI and CT exams.

The strategy for reducing wait times involves :

• Significantly increasing the number of procedures to reduce the backlog that has developed over the last decade
• Investing in new, more efficient technology, such as MRI machines, and extending hours of operations
• Standardizing best practices for both medical and administrative functions in order to improve patient flow and efficiency
• Collecting and reporting accurate and up-to-date data on wait times, through the Wait Times Information System and a public website, to allow better decision-making and increased accountability

When illness or disease strikes, millions of Ontarians turn to doctors for care – doctors are usually their first point of contact with the health system. But at the same time, some people are finding it difficult to get access to this type of care for a variety of reasons.

Providing better access to primary care is also part of the government's plan. This involves :

• Increasing medical school enrolment
• More than doubling the number of training and assessment positions for international medical graduates
• Creating teams of physicians and other professionals such as nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers and dieticians, known as Family Health Teams
• Developing a comprehensive nursing strategy
• Opening a new school of pharmacy in Waterloo
• Reinforcing the new fully inter-professional curriculum at the Michener Institute, funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term care

Additionally, through its new health human resources strategy, HealthForce Ontario, the government is working to meet the need for more health care professionals over the next five to 10 years.

This will involve creating new and innovative health care positions, as well as recruiting the best and the brightest health care workers to Ontario where they will be educated, trained and provided with the best possible working environment.

An important part of the government's plan for health care is about preventing people from getting sick in the first place.

This means giving some of Ontario's most vulnerable citizens a healthy start in life by :

• screening newborns for at least 27 rare disorders; and
• providing free vaccinations against chicken pox, meningococcal disease and pneumococcal disease to all Ontario children.

It also means helping people to :

• kick their smoking habit by educating them about the harmful effects of smoking and second-hand smoke, as well as banning smoking in public places;
• take preventative steps by encouraging them to get their flu shot;
• adopt better eating habits and engage in physical activity; and
• protect themselves against West Nile Virus.

Additionally, through Operation Health Protection, the government is working to rebuild Ontario's public health system by addressing six key areas of reform :

• Creation of a health promotion and protection agency to provide crucial scientific leadership
• Public health renewal
• Health emergency management
• Infection control and communicable disease capacity
• Health human resources
• Infrastructure for health system preparedness

© Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2002  |  Privacy Policy  |  Disclaimers  |   Last Modified :