Health-care partners in Kenora, Ont., demand urgent action to address doctor shortage

Health-care professionals and advocates are sounding the alarm over the doctor shortage in Kenora, Ont., saying it has put the region's health-care system "on the brink of collapse."

The northwestern Ontario city and surrounding First Nations are served by a small group of general practitioner physicians. On Tuesday, the All Nations Health Partners Ontario Health Team (ANHP OHT) issued a statement saying the lack of doctors and "fractured" physician service agreements mean Kenora's emergency department at Lake of the Woods District Hospital (LWDH) is at risk of closure.

"Our local physician group is in crisis with the loss of yet another physician and impending retirements, which will leave thousands of patients without primary care," says the statement.

Meanwhile, "the physician funding for First Nation communities expires within the next few months, threatening to further the health inequities already experienced by the Indigenous population," it says.

The number of physicians in Kenora's emergency department has gone from about 20 in early 2022 to nine part-time physicians today, according to LWDH.

An advisory committee is pushing Ontario's health minister to adopt a new rural generalist care model to better serve patients in the Kenora area.

Our local physician group is in crisis with the loss of yet another physician and impending retirements, which will leave thousands of patients without primary care.- All Nations Health Partners Ontario Health Team Clinical Advisory Committee

"The model is designed to provide continuous health care services and establish a competitive compensation plan for all rural generalist physicians," says the statement from ANHP OHT.

LWDH says its emergency department "has been at risk of closure multiple times over the last year and twice this summer alone."

"We have approximately one-third of the number of physicians we need but are providing the same level of service as if we were fully staffed," said Dr. Meghan Olson, president of medical staff on the LWDH board of directors, in a statement issued by the hospital Wednesday.

"Without significant change to our health-care system, I cannot see how it is physically possible for such a small group of doctors to maintain our current services."

Province commits to bring care 'closer to home'

CBC News received an emailed statement from Kenora–Rainy River MPP Greg Rickford on Wednesday in response to concerns around physician staffing.

"Since forming government, we have been focused on improving access to health-care programs and services for patient care closer to home. This includes making Kenora one of the first destinations for transitioning to an Ontario Health Team focused on developing and implementing streamlined access to community-based services," Rickford said.

He pointed to a number of efforts, including:

• The expansion of community-based paramedicine programs to treat people in their homes.
• Improvements in pediatric care. 
• Enhancements at hospital facilities, including dialysis services in Dryden.
• Seniors' housing with on-site health-care services.

"I acknowledge that we are at a critical point in negotiations on a physician service agreement and continue to work with the physician service group leadership and Ministry of Health officials on the remaining elements of an agreement," Rickford said.

"I continue to emphasize the uniqueness of health-care delivery in Kenora and the catchment it serves. I am hopeful for a resolution to the outstanding matter(s) in the not-too-distant future and move forward on other important opportunities to increase access to more locally-based health services in the very near future."

Physician recruitment, retention and working conditions have been ongoing challenges in northern Ontario. Last month, the Rainy River Physician Group issued a statement saying it will be pulling its hospital services from the Riverside Health Care Facility - Rainy River Site this fall, unless a new deal is reached with the Ministry of Health.

CBC News reached out to the office of the Ministry of Health for comment. A spokesperson said the response provided by Rickford "will stand as comment from the government." 

'People will die': NDP health critic

France Gélinas, MPP for Nickelbelt and the NDP critic of health, said she's been involved in the health-care sector for more than 40 years.

"We've had tough times," she said of the region's health-care system. "Nothing compares to what we're going through right now."

Gélinas said it's critical that the Ministry of Health listens to health-care providers in the Kenora area to protect the city's emergency department from closure, otherwise patients will have to travel hours to the nearest hospital for urgent care.

"People will die and people will suffer life-long consequences to their health because the safety net, the emergency department, was not there when they needed it," she said in an interview with CBC News.

"What we have now with the locum and the poor pay and and the overwork[ing] does not work."

She also wants to see more investments in primary care to improve people's overall well-being, preventing them from needing to visit the hospital in the first place.

The co-chairs of the ANHP OHT clinical advisory committee, Kenora Chiefs Advisory, and LWDH are holding a media scrum Friday morning to discuss the physician shortage and provide more details about the changes they want to see.