New research by Unity Health Toronto indicates that Ontario family doctors left the profession at the start of the pandemic at double the rate of the years before COVID-19 hit. The study revealed that about three percent of family doctors across the province (around 385 doctors) stopped practising between March and September 2020, which accounted for an estimated 170,000 patients losing access to primary care.
Several Ontario hospital leaders say much-needed beds could be freed up by a new law that would move discharged patients awaiting long-term care to nursing homes not of their choosing, although some hope to avoid using it on a broad scale. The law, which went into effect Wednesday, allows hospitals to send those patients to homes up to 70 kilometres away in southern Ontario and up to 150 kilometres away in northern regions, on a temporary basis.
In a recent report, Alzheimer’s and dementia experts are calling for better treatment for patients and better education for healthcare professionals, revealing that the majority of dementia patients receive little to no post-diagnosis care. According to Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI) up to 85 percent of dementia patients may not receive care for their dementia following diagnosis. About 55 million people around the globe, and more than 500,000 in Canada alone, are living with dementia.
In the latest episode of the Caring Support Podcast, we sat down with Irnise F. Williams, Esq, a nurse lawyer from the United States. We spoke about the fact that she has been able to find a perfect balance between two fields as different as healthcare and the law, and many other things related to the two. Overall, it was a smart and captivating conversation that we are sure our audience will benefit from. Keep reading to find out what she told us.
Physician assistants have been part of Canada’s military medic system since the 1960s, but they are relatively new to provincial and territorial health systems, which have fewer than 1,000 certified PAs in total. Now, with many front-line health workers calling for urgent action to address the crisis of staffing shortages across Canada in recent months, PAs are uniquely situated to help, says Patrick Nelson, executive director of the Canadian Association of Physician Assistants.
As healthcare workers continue to face burnout, new data shows that the staff turnover rate in Ontario hospitals is at nearly 15 percent. According to Dave Verch, vice-president of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU), part of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), this turnover rate indicates a "mass exodus" of healthcare workers.
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