City exploring solutions to family doctor shortage

More than two million Ontarians do not have a family doctor, a reality to which those living in the nation's capital are not immune.

A recent report from the Ottawa Board of Health estimated 150,000 people in Ottawa do not have access to primary care, whether it be a doctor or a nurse practitioner.

Recognizing that health care is a provincial responsibility, Glen Gower, Ottawa City Councillor for Stittsville, believes the municipality can play a role in ensuring residents have access to the care they need.

“It's such a crisis situation, I think every level of government has a responsibility to look for solutions,” said Gower on Wake Up with Rob Snow.

One solution would be for the municipality to take on the role of landlord for family practices. Gower said the burden of maintaining office space and taking care of administrative tasks is a disincentive for doctors looking to open a primary care practice. 

“They want to be doctors, they don't want to be worrying about who's going to clear the snow from the parking lot outside. They don't want to be running a small business,” said Gower. ” And that's, in many ways, how the system has been set up in our province.”

Gower said there are number of underutilized or entirely vacant municipal buildings that could be repurposed. Alternatively, the hybrid work model has likely opened up office space elsewhere in the city that could be utilized.

Another option would be to reevaluate whether city staff require doctor's notes for certain human resources procedures. 

“I think every workplace could look at requiring sick notes … Is that really necessary from an HR perspective,” ask Gower. “There's one less thing that a doctor would have to fill out for a patient and they could be focusing on more urgent needs.”

Finally, Gower said advocating for more health care spending at the federal and provincial levels to ensure they are investing in family care.

On Tuesday, Feb. 7, after Gower appeared on Wake Up with Rob Snow, the federal government offered a new $196 billion, 10 year health care funding plan to the provincial premiers. 

Listen to the full interview with City Councillor Glen Gower on Wake Up with Rob Snow below.