Ontario’s 24 colleges applaud the McGuinty government’s announcement today of new funding for medical training and are committed to working with the government to address the workforce challenges throughout the health-care system.

“The government’s announcement to train more doctors is an important step forward in addressing the pressures in our health care system, but it isn’t the whole story,” said David Lindsay, president of the Association of Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology of Ontario (ACAATO).

“As Ontario moves forward with health-care reforms, it will be important to address the workforce challenges throughout the system – in everything from community care to paramedics and the critical demands for staff in medical imaging, laboratory technology and respiratory therapy.”

In fact, 70 per cent of health-care occupations in Ontario are trained in Ontario colleges. The colleges graduate 7,000 health-care professionals each year.

The colleges identified workforce pressures throughout the health-care system in a November 2004 report, Beyond the Stethoscope: Ontario’s Human Resource Requirements in a Reformed Health Care System. That report found that there is a great deal of uncertainty about Ontario’s ability to meet the workforce demands throughout the health-care system. The report is available here.

It will be essential that a greater number of health-care professionals are used more effectively in the delivery of health care in the years ahead. This week, the Health Council of Canada released a report that said: “the vision of true interprofessional teams making the best use of a variety of health professionals has been diluted. A lack of planning to increase the range of providers who make up primary health care teams is a key obstacle.”

The colleges have met with government officials to discuss the workforce challenges and believe there is a need for a comprehensive human resources plan for health care in this province.

“There is much work to be done if health-care reforms are going to succeed,” Lindsay said. “Ontario colleges appreciate the government’s commitment to training and will continue working with the government to avert the looming shortages of workers throughout the system.”

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For more information:
Rob Savage
Senior Communications and Media Officer
Association of Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology of Ontario
(416) 596-0744, ext. 239