Financial Personal
Health care in crisis in northwestern Ontario: communities demand urgent solutions from Ford government
TORONTO and RAINY RIVER and THUNDER BAY and EMO, Ontario, Sept. 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — An unprecedented crisis in hospital, EMS, and primary care services in northwestern Ontario is unfolding. Physicians are leaving Rainy River’s hospital
In the Town of Rainy River all three permanent, full-time local physicians announced they are resigning due to a funding dispute with the Ford government. Two will leave at the end of September and the third will leave in November. This would leave no physician services in the hospital after September 30 or in the clinic after November 30. The hospital has secured temporary locum physicians from October 1 to November 22 (locum physicians are brought in by towns to provide coverage). If the Ford government continues to provide no long-term solutions, Rainy River’s hospital and clinic is at risk of being left without physician services by the end of November. Residents would need to travel more than one hour – in good weather conditions – to access the nearest hospital physician services in Fort Frances and there is no solution for the loss of family medicine services. Read More
