Fixing health care in Dufferin and Caledon

by SYLVIA JONES

Our government inherited a broken health care system from the previous government. While the nurses, doctors, long-term care workers, and other health care professionals were working harder and harder, their jobs became tougher and tougher. The previous government built our health care system for bureaucracy, not for patients. Sadly, this has had frustrating and sometimes tragic consequences as our loved ones are left waiting for urgent care.

We will put the patient back at the centre of our health care system and end hallway health care. Last week the Premier's Council on Improving Health Care and Ending Hallway Medicine released its first report outlining the need for changes in health care. The report found that Ontarians have difficulty navigating the health care system, there are long wait times, we lack capacity, and there is a lack of coordination – in other words, the left hand often doesn't know what the right hand is doing.

To be clear, this is not the fault of the people who work in the health care system. Responsibility lies with the previous government who turned a blind eye as infrastructure deteriorated, staff shortages became more severe, and old technology became obsolete. While the rest of the world modernized and transformed, the system we rely on was left to languish.

The Council will now advise the government on how to fix our broken system. Under the leadership of Health Minister Christine Elliott, we will seek out opportunities in integrated health care delivery, improvements in digital health care, and find efficiencies in the system to improve health care for Ontarians.

Our government is focused on listening and consulting with the people who work on the front-lines of health services in order to build our long-term health care strategy. Their feedback, expertise, and advice will inform the decisions we make going forward.

As we undertake a transformative modernization of health care in Ontario, you can expect the opposition to try and confuse Ontarians. Dating back to the previous governments of McGuinty and Wynne, the NDP have tried to create fear about the privatization of our health care system. It wasn't true then and it isn't true with our current government.

To the contrary, our government is strongly committed to our public health care system and is focused on improving health care for patients. This was a key policy in our election campaign, and a key reason why Ontarians elected us.

We will build a health care system that works for the patient and redirects money to front-line services to improve care and patient experience. Ontario families are counting on it.

If you have any questions about health care, please contact me at 1-800-265-1603 or by email at Sylvia.jonesco@pc.ola.org.