Experts Say There Are Solutions To Ontario's Healthcare Backlog
Health-care experts say there are solutions to Ontario's immense backlog of non-COVID-19 cases, but it would require a "complete rethink" of how the province's health system operates. They also say the backlog, along with the staffing shortage, were both problems before the pandemic, but the "unrelenting chokehold" of COVID-19 on the system stretched its threadbare resources like never before. The call for a better way to address the crisis comes as non-urgent surgeries resumed this week.
New National Long-Term Care Standards Released in Canada
New national standards have been released to improve Canada’s long-term care facilities, after a 21 month-long revision process involving over 18,000 Canadians and stakeholders. Dr. Samir Sinha, technical committee chair for the Health Standards Organization (HSO), said he is hopeful this will provide a “clear blueprint” to enable the federal government, provinces, and territories to move long-term care “to where all Canadians are demanding it to go.”
Bell Let's Talk Day Raises Funds for Mental Health
As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year, initiatives like Bell Let’s Talk Day, now in its 12th year, aims to help people of all backgrounds and age groups struggling with mental health by raising both awareness and money to support organizations across Canada that help improve mental health care access and funding research that could one day offer promising treatments, all with the goal of eliminating the stigma around mental illness.
Ontario Expanding Choices for Prospective Nursing Students
The Ontario government is providing a new pathway for nursing education with the launch of Canadore College’s new stand-alone four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree in Northern Ontario. “This is an important milestone for postsecondary education in Ontario. Given Canadore’s northern location, the college is in a unique position to address an acute regional need for nurses,” said Jill Dunlop, Minister of Colleges and Universities of Ontario.
Women-led Medical Team Is Tackling COVID-19 Hospitalizations in Ottawa
The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) has gained praise recently for its General Internal Medicine unit, which is led entirely by women. “Our chief of staff is a woman, our senior medical officer is a woman, all of this sort of fairly recently and I think that sort of highlights the change that is slowly coming about within medicine,” said Dr. Isabelle Desjardins, General Internal Medicine Site Chief for the hospital. It should be noted that this is still a relatively rare situation in medicine in Canada.
Internationally Trained Nurses in Canada Eager to Work
As the Omicron-driven surge in COVID-19 infections is worsening the shortage of nurses at Canadian hospitals, thousands of internationally trained nurses say they can ease the strain on the health-care system if they are given the chance to work. "We can help... We just hope that they could consider us," they said.