The time to invest money in the community health care sector is now, the Peterborough Family Health Team (PFHT) says.
In fact, more funding has been needed for about a decade, said PFHT CEO Duff Sprague.
Many of the province’s family health teams are advocating in their communities for a fair top-up from the government.
“It is becoming increasingly difficult to fill positions in the primary health care sector,” Sprague told kawarthaNOW. “If Peterborough is able to maintain a robust, fully staffed family health team, it will assist in attracting family physicians to our community. However, this is far from the current reality with no relief in sight.”
Sprague said compensation has been frozen for four years, there has been more than 10 years of no new clinical positions, and more than 10 years of no base budget increases.
“We are less and less able to support local family physicians, their patients, and area citizens who have no primary care,” the CEO noted. “The breakdown of family medicine and primary care is the number one reason that hospitals are overrun.”
Sprague hopes the government will “act quickly” and provide more money for primary health care.
“Fund us to pay our staff a competitive wage, to hire more clinical staff to work with and support family practices and recognize that our base budget is being eaten up by the rising costs of rent, IT and medical supplies,” he said. “We are not still paying 2013 prices.”
PFHT said in a media release that community health care in Ontario is in crisis as it struggles to recruit and retain health workers.
“The rapidly growing wage gap between primary care and other health care sectors is proven and the facts have been brought to light in the recent Ontario Community Health Compensation Market Salary Review.”
The salary review shows some clinical positions as having a wage gap of 30 per cent below market value, with most positions in the range of 20 per cent below market value, the PFHT noted.
“For years, community healthcare has been ignored,” Sprague stated in the media release. “It is extremely detrimental to the health of Ontarians that primary care is left to fall apart.”
“Ontarians already know about the severe and growing shortage of family doctors. They also need to know that years of frozen wages across primary care has resulted in a shrinking number of community-based healthcare professionals such as nurse practitioners, registered nurses/practical nurses, mental health clinicians, pharmacists, dietitians and physician assistants. Our community is fortunate that many of our FHT professionals see primary care as their calling and have stayed with us despite the better-paying opportunities in other health settings.”
Sprague said both the clinical and administrative staff at the PFHT “continue to go above and beyond in delivering services to our community.” They do this, despite not seeing those increases in staffing and compensation, he noted.
“A lot needs to change in Ontario’s health care system, starting with the front door to health care. Family physicians and primary care teams are the foundation of our system and the first step in a person’s health care journey and if they’re gone, comprehensive primary health care is gone.”
The PFHT was one of the first FHTs in Ontario. The health care organization applies a team-based approach to patient care. The PFHT’s interprofessional health care providers include mental health clinicians, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, registered dietitians, and more.
