‘Our community is facing a crisis’: Nearly 65K people in Waterloo region don’t have a family doctor

New data released on Thursday has revealed nearly 65,000 people in Waterloo region do not have access to a family doctor.

The Ontario College of Family Physicians says the new numbers are shedding light on the gap in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and surrounding areas, and the college is calling for urgent action.

“Our community is facing a crisis,” says Dr. Mekalai Kumanan, a family doctor in Cambridge and President of the Ontario College of Family Physicians. “This is reflective of a province-wide crisis that we are facing.”

WHY HAVE A FAMILY DOCTOR?

Dr. Kumanan says when people are not connected with a family doctor, they could be missing important treatments and diagnostics such as cancer screening, vaccines and chronic disease management.

“Patients actually live longer and overall have better health outcomes,” says Dr. Kumanan.

“When a patient does not have a family doctor they don’t have that person they can see when they have a health issue.”

People with a family doctor are less likely to require hospitalization or a visit to the emergency room, says Dr. Kumanan, and “ultimately place less of a strain on the system.”

That strain, she says, is costly for the provincial government and could be reduced if people had access to a primary care physician.

“It is much more cost-effective to care for patients in family medicine than it is to wait until medical issues become more acute and those patients then require hospital-level care,” Kumanan explains.

“REFLECTIVE OF A PROVINCE-WIDE CRISIS”

The Ontario College of Family Physicians says the local problem is reflective of a province-wide crisis.

New data released by INSPIRE Primary Health Care says 2.2-million people across the province are without a family doctor – an increase from the previously reported 1.8-million in 2020.

By 2025, one in five Ontarians won’t have a family doctor, the college estimates.

The college says on average, family doctors spend up to 19 hours a week on administrative tasks. That’s more than two full working days filling out forms and reviewing inboxes.

While the college says some administrative work will always be necessary, there are efficiencies that can be made.

“Family doctors care deeply about patients,” says Dr. Kumanan.

“But overwhelmingly, administrative tasks and a lack of team support are burning us out and taking time that would be better spent with patients.”

In order to relieve some of the pressure, the college is calling for urgent action and these changes:

1. A reduction in the amount of time doctors spend completing administrative work by improving outdated digital systems
2. An increase in access to support by hiring healthcare team members

VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES MOST IMPACTED

The data also shows that the people most vulnerable in the community are the most likely to not have a family doctor, the college says.

According to the college, of the people living in Kitchener, Waterloo, Wellesley, Wilmot and Woolwich, 13,163 of the lowest-income earners and 9,744 who live in racialized communities do not have a family doctor.

In Cambridge-North Dumfries, 3,260 of the lowest-income earners, 1,719 who live in racialized communities, 1,750 with mental illness and 750 with diabetes do not have a family doctor, the college says.

The Ontario College of Family Physicians represents more than 15,000 family doctors across the province.

PROVINCE REACTS

Premier Doug Ford said the province is working as quickly as possible to bring more doctors into the system.

“We're building two universities, medical schools, one out in Brampton, being able to enroll more students to become doctors,” Ford said while visiting Cambridge.

The health minister added that they have sped up the process to license internationally-educated physicians. The province said they are also allowing health care professionals who are licensed in other parts of Canada, to practice here.

“Clearly we want to have physicians, clinicians be able to practice in the community of their choice in Ontario as quickly as possible,” said Health Minister Sylvia Jones.