Fixing the Deficit in Access to Medical Professionals
Fixing the Deficit in Access to Medical Professionals: the new Liberal Doctor and Nurses Fund will address a crisis the Conservatives have ignored
The Liberal Party announced yesterday that it will invest $420 million to create a new Doctors and Nurses Fund to help ensure that all Canadians will have access to a medical professional when they need care.
“As a physician, I know full well the pain and frustration people endure due to our shortage of medical professionals. It is one of the biggest challenges facing Canada’s public health care system, said Dr. Keith Martin, incumbent M.P. for Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca.
“It has been a dereliction of duty on the part of Mr. Harper that he has ignored this issue. Instead of tackling the problem, he has preferred to send his Health Minister, Tony Clement, to the Canadian Medical Association’s AGM to call physicians immoral and unethical for supporting harm reduction strategies that work.”
This Fund will increase the number of health care professionals in Canada, which will mean better and faster health care for all.
“Too many Canadians are without a family physician, and access to specialists is often extremely difficult. Wait times in emergency rooms or for important diagnostics are often too long because there aren’t enough nurses or other medical professionals to keep up with our ever increasing needs,” said Dr. Martin. “I have been fighting for a long time to change this utterly unacceptable situation by proposing solutions to the federal and provincial governments, and the Canadian Medical Association.”
This Fund will be used to:
• increase the capacity to train doctors, nurses and medical technicians;
• remove bottlenecks that currently slow the process of licensing new health care professionals;
• provide financial support to assist foreign-trained health professionals in obtaining their Canadian qualifications more quickly; and
• reward medical students choosing needed specialties such as family medicine, rural medicine, and geriatrics.
To help under-serviced communities attract more doctors and nurses, a new Liberal government will also provide incentives to health care professionals who agree to serve in those communities.
“Doctors, nurses and other medical personnel are the anchors of our health care system. As our population ages, so too do our health care workers. This plan will ensure greater access to health care professionals for patients,” said Dr. Martin.
- Keith
Fixing the Deficit in Access to Medical Professionals
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