An Update on Ontario’s Health Care System

Ontario’s health care system has been undergoing significant change over the last few years. The government’s Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care aims to increase access to care closer to home by reducing surgical wait times and the burden on acute care centres.  

As a part of this Plan, the government has released a series of calls for application to increase access to publicly funded surgeries and procedures in community settings. These include:

• Increasing access to diagnostic centres to connect 100,000 more patients to MRI and CT scans (application closed August 12 with licenses anticipated to be announced in fall 2024).  

• Increasing access to gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy procedures to allow more than 60,000 patients to access care (applications are open until November 4 with licenses anticipated to be announced in winter 2025).  

• Increasing access to orthopaedic surgeries (more details and application is anticipated to be launched in fall 2024.)

The most recent call for applications for new licences opened on August 26 for GI endoscopy procedures across the province. The call for application is open to all applicants, including new centres seeking to become an Integrated Community Health Services Centre (ICHSC), existing ICHSCs seeking to be licensed for an additional modality, and public hospitals that meet the minimum eligibility requirements. Sole proprietors and not-for-profit corporations can apply to the call for applications. The application guidelines can be accessed here and the full application can be found on here.

‍What Does This Mean  

Based on the recent two calls for application (MRI/CT and GI endoscopy), the government has made it clear that they are continuing with their commitment to reduce waitlists and improve access and convenience to care despite some opposition from critics and pundits.  

This expansion is part of a larger reform the Ontario government is undertaking. In addition to expanding diagnostic, GI endoscopy, and orthopedic services in community settings, the government has started consultations with stakeholders to further expand pharmacist scope of practice to treat additional common ailments (beyond the  previously announced ailments), administer more vaccines, and perform more point-of-care testing.