Health - Green Party Five Point Plan for Ontario

8/6/2019 Health - Green Party Five Point Plan for Ontario

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2011



A Five-Point Plan for Ontario’s Future—Health 2

Promoting access to quality, sustainable health care close to home

The Green Party believes in a sustainable, public health care system

that provides every Ontarian with access to the quality health care

they require, when and where they need it.

We all have first-hand experience with challenges in our current sys-

tem, including long waits in emergency rooms, for specialists and

tests, and for appropriate long-term care. Many of us also face the

challenge of being unable to find a family doctor.

Adding to this is the growing sense of unease that health care spend-

ing is crowding out everything else the Ontario government must do,such as fund our educaon system, build and maintain roads and

transit systems, and provide other community services. Currently,

the health care budget is almost half of the provincial budget and if

current trends connue, it will eat up of the budget by .

Like you, the Green Party has long been aware that our health sys-

tem is facing unprecedented challenges. We are commied to ensur-

ing that our public health care system not only works for today, but

is sustainable for the next generaon.

ts me to refocus the health care system on programs that will pre-vent illness in the first place while improving access and quality. The

me to start is now, while we can sll aect the outcome. y making

front line health care more accessible, we can create eciencies and beer manage costs.

The good news is that there are soluons for the way forward. The real issue is that these soluons require polical

leadership, commitment and thinking that extends beyond the four-year elecon cycle – leadership the Green Party is

commied to providing.

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1. Prioritizing health promotion and illness preventionGovernments of the twenty first century cannot

speak of improving health care without under-

standing and confronng the lifestyle and envi-

ronmental issues facing us today. We know that a

penny invested in prevenng illness today saves a

dollar tomorrow.

We must recognize that keeping Ontarians

healthy is part and parcel of creang a sustaina-

ble, affordable health care system. Policies that

promote and reward healthy lifestyles are essen-

al to building a strong province.

Ontario only spends $7 per person on health pro-

moon and illness prevenon. n comparison,

rish olumbia spends $ per person, and u-

bec spends $6 per person.

t costs much less to keep people healthy than to

treat illness. We need to refocus the system to

concentrate on true health care, not just sick care.

We will:

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We will support the development of healthy, liveable, recreation-friendlycommunities.

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Your Green MPPs will:

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s. oreensive rnsoron sre will el reue ir olluon enoure vi

n ke our ounies liveble or everone.

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We will ensure clean air, water and food.

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We will provide incentives for people to pursue healthy lifestyles andsupport school-based nutrition, outdoor education and athletic programs.

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• Invest $200 million over four years for a healthy school food program, and set purchasing tar-

gets for local sustainable food.

• Invest $200 million over four years for a good food program that invests in community foodprograms that promote access to healthy food, community gardens, cooing and nutrion

classes.

• Provide $200 million over four years in healthy living tax credits for children and adult recrea-

on programs.




2. Reforming health care delivery to ensure all Ontarians haveaccess to quality community health services

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We will re-prioritize funding to support doctors and other health professionals for family/community care clinics that are integrated with public health.More than 730,000 Ontarians do not have a family doctor, and of those that

do, almost nine in ten say they are ain too lon for aointments Of

the eleven countries the overnment reularly surveys for comarison ur-

oses, Ontario is dead last in mely access to rimary care

n mul-discilinary family care teams, all key rimary care health rofes-

sionals ork toether, on a 7 asis erts aree that collaoraon ith

other health rofessionals - harmacists, nurse raconers, hysiothera-

ists, ultrasound technicians, home care orkers, diecians, and secialists,

is an eecve ay for doctors to ork

We also need to use each rofession's cometencies to the maimum On-

tario's reulaon of health care rofessions hasn't ket ace ith the evoluon in the educaon and trainin of health

care rofessionals, nor ith racces in other urisdicons

sin each of Ontario's more than 00,000 health care roviders' ailies to the fullest ould create more caacity

and enhance access to health care andin each rofessions scoe of racce to match roven cometencies ena-

les the same services to e delivered y the most cost eecve rovider, romotes aent choice and hel to ad-

dress ait lists and the hysician shortae his ould rovide eer value for money in the health care system

his ay, aents et mely access to the riht treatment and dianosis, hen they need it his hels us stay healthyand heal faster, and imroves the sustainaility and efficiency of our health care system


• nvest illion over four years in family and community care clinics and racces that team doctors ith

nurses, diecians, sycholoists, counsellors, hysiotheraists and others

• stalish a ne oal of rovidin 50% of Ontarians ith access to a family care teams y 0, risin to 90% y

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• Amend rofession-secific acts of reulated health care rofessions to allo memers of those rofessions to

racse to the full etent of their demonstrated cometencies as verified y their resecve reulatory odies

• Revam the current fee-for-service ay model Move toards salaried and other fundin models (either alone

or in cominaon that eand access, aent-centred care and encourae health romoon and innovaon

• Remove all unnecessary restricons on the reistraon of forein-trained health care raconers, hile at the

same me ensurin that only those raconers ith the reuisite cometencies to racse safely and eec-

vely in Ontario are ranted access

• Reulate omlementary and Alternave rofessions (AM to oer more aent choice




We will put communities back in charge of local health care decisions.

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We will finally deliver on electronic health records by using best practises fromother places.

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3. Honouring our seniors by improving the care available to Ontario’sageing population

We will:

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We will support all long-term care facilities to provide services in compliance with pro-vincial standards.

A study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers found

that Ontario's funding of long-term care

homes falls behind other Canadian provinc-

es and compared unfavourably with the

State of Mississippi, the poorest state in the

United States! Our seniors deserve beer

Long-term care homes are funded by the

Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care

through a complex system Under the fund-ing system, long-term care homes cannot

transfer money from one area to another,

regardless of need, and money unspent in

any parcular envelope is reclaimed by the

Ministry of Health at the end of the year

This rigid system limits long-term care

homes' ability to be innovave or to respond to uniue or changing circumstances and reuire-

ments The very heavy, detailed and centralized "one-size-fits-all" regulaon also inhibits the ability to

respond to uniue or changing circumstances and discourages innovaon

Green MPPs would reform the funding model for long-term care homes to increase flexibility and to

encourage innovaon and eciencies We would also wor with the Ontario Associaon of on-Profit

Homes and Services for Seniors, the Ontario Long Term Care Associaon and other staeholders to

idenfy and provide appropriate funding levels for long-term care homes


• Support a government led capacity planning exercise to develop a comprehensive, long-term strategy for

the long care sector

• Re-examine implementaon of the government's Appropriate Level of Care strategy, parcularly the

crical needs component, to achieve a balance between paents' needs and the ethnic, cultural or reli-

gious maeup of individual homes

Documents

Health - Green Party Five Point Plan for Ontario