“Ontario will be short 33,000 nurses and PSWs by 2028”, financial watchdog projects.

Folks, please pay attention, we are already feeling the shortage of medical care in our hospitals, long term care settings and of course, at home as well.

My own family doctor is retiring and I suppose I am lucky in so far as there is a doctor who is going to take over her practice. He has 30 years experience, so I am thinking to myself, hmmmm, I guess he will be retiring soon too and then what? I started calling my own friends and professional community about finding a new doctor for myself and guess what- I have come up short; the practices contacted are not even taking wait lists. I am now considering private pay and I guess that is ok. Things we used to take for granted, such as having a family doctor, are no longer services we can count on. Forget about finding a geriatrician. In 2018, the Canadian Medical Association reported that there were 304 geriatricians in Canada.  I have read no indication that this is going to change. The National Senior Strategy highlights this issue and identifies: “A lack of geriatricians, however, is only part of the larger health human resources and training challenge related to meeting the future care needs of older Canadians. Across the health care system and within the communities, other health and social care professionals interact with older Canadians with a much higher frequency than specialized physicians such as geriatricians or family physicians with additional training in care of the elderly. However, many professional training programs have no stated mandatory training requirements in care of older adults.”

This morning  I can tell you that there is no doctor in the house. I don’t have the answers but I know we need  strong leadership and action.