Rahman Mohamed

The 2014 Battle for Ontario has been dominated by the scandal and economic expansion/job creation.  But they’ve also quietly been speaking about healthcare.

NDP Radio and TV ads attack: The foundation: ORNGE and eHealth, the health scandals of the Liberals.  But they continue and say that they’ll invest to in healthcare to “Cut ER wait times in half and make healthcare a priority”.  How?  50 new 24-hour health care clinics across Ontario, hire more nurse practitioners to treat and discharge patients in ER, more nurse practitioners to treat and discharge ER patients, create 1400 long-term care beds, introducing the Caregiver Tax Credit, forgiving student debt in medical school to attract them to underserviced communities.

The Conservative plan talks about “A better approach to healthcare” by taking action to build centres to help centres to help patients with chronic diseases, increasing homecare for seniors, “Encourage competitive contracts for services like hospital cafeterias and MRIs”, “Focus health care on evidence” to find the treatments that work and don’t work like in countries such as Sweden, make mental health a priority, and encourage children get more physical activity.

To have “Access to the right health care at the right time, in the right place”, the Liberals state that a plan to invest “on the basis of need, rather than the ability to pay is a defining characteristic of Canada and is the most important thing a government can do to provide people with security”.  How?  The “Kathleen Wynne government” will invest family health “guaranteeing that every Ontarian has access to a primary health giver”, support mothers, children, families, seniors, and caregivers.  They also say they’ll reduce wait times, invest in mental health and addiction, advocate for national drug insurance, and provide culturally appropriate care.

Which promise of good ER time will give them the chance to reduce ER wait times?