The Facts about Canada's Doctor Shortage
Patients
Adopt a policy of self-sufficiency that would include:
- Reducing Canada's dependence on international health professionals
- Establishing an office or department to provide needs-based approaches to planning that will be integrated across disciplines
- Ensuring that all Canadians have timely access to health care professionals where and when they need them
Providers
Establish a Health Care Resource Fund to:
- Expand capacity at Canada's academic health and science centres and create additional centres to meet the emerging health needs of Canadians
- Develop a repatriation/retention strategy to provide incentives that will attract health care professionals who have left Canada
- Provide programs and services that will enhance the health and wellness of health care providers
Processes
Invest in innovation and technology to make our health care system more responsive and efficient by providing:
- The resources necessary to operationalize electronic health records (EHR) across Canada
- Incentives to health care professionals to adopt technologies to fully automate health care delivery
- Grants to academic health science centres to enhance training opportunities through the use of technology