New report cites staffing shortages and surgical backlogs among health-care gaps in Canada
The Canadian Institute for Public Health Information (CIHI) released a new report on Wednesday, highlighting issues within Canada's health-care system that millions have already felt.
Staffing shortages, lack of access to family physicians and surgical backlogs remain some of the main hurdles for provinces to overcome, according to the report.
The report shows about 743,000 fewer surgeries were performed during the first two and a half years of the pandemic across Canada, representing a 13 per cent decline compared to 2019. This data does not include Quebec.
In Alberta, that number was 10 per cent.
Newfoundland and Labrador (21 per cent) and Manitoba (18 per cent) were the two provinces most impacted by surgical delays and cancellations.
Despite fewer surgeries being performed nationwide, health-care workers put in massive amounts of overtime hours in 2020-21.
"The 18 million overtime hours worked in Canada's public hospitals in 2020–21 is the equivalent of more than 9,000 full-time jobs, which gives a sense of the increased workload during the pandemic's first year," notes the CIHI report.
"The pressure contributed to burnout and illness, which can have long-term implications for the health of workers and for health-care systems. Some workers changed jobs and even careers."
The survey was conducted between 2019 and 2021 and found that roughly 12 per cent of Canadians aged 12 and up, not including Quebec, did not have access to a regular health-care provider.
As the nation's population continues to grow rapidly, it's an issue that persists.
The report shows about 13 per cent of Albertans 12 years old and up do not have access to a regular health-care provider.
"Having a regular health-care provider is important for preventing and treating common health issues, regularly monitoring and treating chronic diseases such as diabetes and supporting good health," CIHI's report notes.
"Usually, the provider is a family doctor, general practitioner, nurse or nurse practitioner. Primary care providers screen for diseases, treat medical conditions, give lifestyle advice and provide ongoing care with medication and other treatments."
The group Friends of Medicare says there's been an exodus of doctors to other jurisdictions outside Alberta, making it more difficult to find a physician here.
"Alberta used to be the desirable place for folks to work -- for doctors and health-care workers to work. And we didn't have the problem like we're seeing now," said Chris Galloway, executive director of Friends of Medicare.
"We used to be a place where people wanted to be. Now, people are talking about closing their practice and moving to other provinces like B.C."
The province disputes there has been a flight of doctors from the province and says it's actively growing the roster of family doctors in Alberta.
In a statement to CTV News Calgary, Scott Johnston, a spokesperson for Alberta Health, wrote:
"Alberta continues to have success in attracting health-care professionals to the province. We are actively recruiting physicians, including international medical graduates (IMGs) and other hard-to-recruit professionals, especially to rural and remote locations."
He also noted that among the cohort of patients in greatest need of a physician -- those over 65 -- Alberta has the highest rate of dedicated family physicians, with 98 per cent of seniors in the province having access to a primary care provider.
The CIHI report suggests 19 per cent of Prince Edward Island residents aged 12 and up do not have access to a regular health-care provider.
That's the highest percentage among Canadian provinces.
"What we know is that things are a little different depending on where you live and how old you are. Almost all seniors had a regular health provider, but it's the younger age groups that are 18 to 34 years old who are the least likely to have that kind of an important relationship," said Kathleen Morris, vice-president of research and analysis at CIHI.
"It also matters where you live. In rural and remote areas, it's tough to find a regular health-care provider. Sometimes, that's because there aren't enough of them and sometimes, because they are not taking new patients."
Recruiting more physicians is something the Alberta government highlighted as a priority when it signed a 10-year, $24-billion health-care funding deal with the federal government in February.
"The funding announcement really focused in on areas that I think Canadians care a lot about. Access to health-care providers, surgical wait times, good mental health care, and being able to see their own data digitally and these are all important priorities," Morris said.
"What we hope to be able to do is find great ways to measure and then track the progress over time on a yearly basis."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada to see warm summer, wildfire risks loom for some regions: forecast
Get ready to feel the heat, Canada. Weather experts are predicting more sunshine and warmer temperatures for the summer.
P.E.I. kiteboarder 'lucky to be alive' after shark attack in Turks and Caicos
A professional kiteboarder from P.E.I. says he has been seriously injured in a shark attack that occurred while he was snorkelling in the Turks and Caicos Islands last week.
Introducing peanut butter during infancy can help protect against a peanut allergy later on, new study finds
New evidence suggests that feeding children smooth peanut butter during infancy and early childhood can help reduce their risk of developing a peanut allergy even years later.
New COVID-19 subvariants become the dominant strains in Canada
More than four years after COVID-19 effectively shut down the world, two new variants of COVID-19 have become the dominant strains of the novel coronavirus in Canada.
Black bear kebabs make family sick with parasitic worms
It was supposed to be a celebration, but one family’s unique meal of black bear meat sent several members to the hospital instead.
The double-level airplane seat is back. This time, there's a first-class version
It’s the airplane seat design that launched a thousand memes and kickstarted a media storm. And now the double-level seat is back – only this time, with a twist.
'Unruly passenger' forces WestJet flight to make emergency landing in B.C.
A WestJet flight heading to Calgary had to make an emergency landing in northern B.C. Monday due to an incident involving an 'unruly passenger,' Mounties say.
NEW Oilers superfan hopeful Edmonton wins so he can get his massive Stanley Cup tattoo retouched
It's been a long time coming, but one Oilers superfan is hoping this will be the year he gets to touch up his massive Stanley Cup back tattoo.
House of Commons Speaker Greg Fergus survives vote calling for his ouster
Greg Fergus survived a vote to oust him as House of Commons Speaker on Tuesday, but with close to half of MPs expressing a loss of confidence in him, he faces a precarious path forward in maintaining order in Parliament.