Committee approves plan to attract more primary care providers to Ottawa

In 2022, over 165,000 people in Ottawa did not have access to a family doctor. While the exact number at present is unknown, the City of Ottawa says it has grown.

The situation in Ottawa snapshot of a healthcare crisis across the country. Currently there are 2.5 million people in Ontario without a family doctor and the Ontario College of Family Physicians predicts that number will increase to four million by 2026. Nationally, 6.5 million Canadians are without a family doctor.

“While health care is provincially managed, access to primary care affects Ottawa’s livability, economic growth, and ability to attract new residents,” staff wrote in a report addressed to the city’s Finance and Corporate Services Committee. “Municipalities across Ontario are responding to the health care crisis with their own recruitment and retention initiatives to address the issue within their communities.”

Staff say estimates from the primary care sector suggest Ottawa needs 270 new primary care providers, not including pending retirements.

“Strong cities are dependent on their ability to meet the health needs of its existing and growing populations, without access to enough primary care providers a
city is at risk of losing jobs and residents to other communities, in addition to experiencing a health care crisis among its existing residents,” the report said.

The City of Ottawa is joining municipalities across the province and the country that are working towards more sustainable healthcare systems.

While the province is also implementing changes — $2.1 billion is being invested to attach every resident to a family doctor by 2029 — staff said these initiatives will be “slow to stop the current momentum, as other factors continue to influence the ongoing shortages”.

The Finance and Corporate Services Committee approved staff’s report, setting up the a Primary Care Provider Recruitment and Retention Strategy.

The strategy outlines 10 actions the city could take to bring more primary care providers to Ottawa.

One of those actions is the creation of a new role called the Primary Care Recruitment and Retention Ambassador who would work with health care professionals and organizations to build a focused plan to keep and attract medical professionals in Ottawa. The city is also looking to join the Eastern Ontario Physician Recruitment Alliance to take advantage of best practices on recruitment and promote the city.

Among other steps, the city would also examine how it could do the following:

• Contribute to developing non-profit medical clinics;
• Work with local Ontario Health Teams to help physicians apply to Ontario Health for funding;
• Collaborate with Ottawa Public Health to improve residents’ access to primary care; and
• Work with non-profit organizations funded by Ontario Health to better support primary care services.

The report will be brought before City Council for ratification Oct. 22.