The Honourable David Caplan, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care with Mike Brown, MPP, Algoma-Manitoulin newly selected member of the Rural & Northern Health Care Panel.

An announcement from Queen’s Park today regarding member selection for the Rural and Northern Health Care Panel included good news that Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Mike Brown,  has been selected as one of the members. “Our government believes the residents of rural and northern communities deserve access to the best health care possible. Since they are faced with unique health care realities different from people living in urban centres, it’s necessary to develop a planning framework to make sure their health care needs are being met.” said Brown.

The panel, to be chaired by Kirkland and District Hospital CEO, Hal Fjeldsted,  will provide recommendations to the government on how to better coordinate the delivery of health care services in Ontario’s rural and northern areas. 

The panel’s members represent a broad range of stakeholders and health care professionals who are to draw on their experiences working in rural and northern areas of Ontario to contribute to the panel. In addition to Brown, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry representing Algoma-Manitoulin and Kirkland and District Hospital CEO, Hal Fjeldsted as chair, panel members are Brian Bildfell, Chief of Essex-Windsor Emergency Medical Services (EMS) (Essex-Windsor); Jocelyn Blais, project manager for Recruitment of Health Service Professionals (Hearst); Lynn Brown, Nurse Practitioner (Fort Erie); Margret Comack, CEO at the Listowel Wingham Hospitals Alliance (North Perth); Sheri Doxtator, Aboriginal Health Access Centre Project Manager for the Association of Ontario Health Centres (Toronto); Kathy Faries, Nurse Practitioner in Moose Factory and for the North Shore Tribal Council in Northern Ontario (James Bay/Weeneebayko); Kelly Isfan, President and CEO of Campbellford Memorial Hospital (Campbellford); Carol Mitchell, MPP for Huron-Bruce, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (Huron-Bruce); Dr. Terry O’Driscoll, CEO Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Centre (Sioux Lookout); Raymond Pong, Director of the Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research and a Professor at the School of Rural and Northern Health and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (Sudbury/Northeast Ontario); Doug Reycraft, (Municipality of Southwest Middlesex); Gerry Rowlands, emergency room physician at Tillsonburg District Hospital (Tillsonburg); Donna Williams RN, Telemedicine Program Manager (Balmerton/Northwest Ontario).

Council member for the Township of Manitouwadge, Donna Jaunzarins had this comment in regards to Brown’s selection “‘Remote communities in Northern Ontario each face unique challenges to provide health care . Quality and access to all services needs to be addressed and are a priority with the panel. Mike Brown is attuned to the many issues faced by the health care workers, and his input will be of great value towards improved implementation for the service providers.”

The panel is to highlight current programs and services targeting northern and rural communities, identify rural and northern Ontario’s unique health care challenges and recommend steps the government can take to improve access to health care in rural and northern Ontario using existing resources. Its work will also complement the province’s Underserviced Area Program, which is aimed at attracting and retaining health care providers to underserviced areas in Ontario. The government will be provided with a report and recommendations from the panel this winter.

 “I am committed to improving access to quality health care for people who call rural and northern Ontario home. The diverse skill sets of Rural and Northern Health Care Panel members will prove to be invaluable as we take steps towards strengthening health care for the people in these communities,” said The Honourable David Caplan, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. 

“Rural and northern communities are facing difficult and complex challenges. I look forward to working with the panel to develop a planning framework to deliver the best health care possible for rural and Northern communities. We have assembled a team with broad representation to take on this important task and I am confident that everyone will rise to the challenge.” – Hal Fjeldsted, Chair, Rural and Northern Health Care Panel 

Click here for biographies of Rural and Northern Health Care Panel members.

QUICK FACTS 

§  More than 4.8 million Ontarians live in rural areas of the province, while more than 780,000 people live in northern Ontario.

§  The panel’s work will complement the province’s Underserviced Area Program, which is aimed at attracting and retaining health care providers to underserviced areas in Ontario. 

Submitted to The Echo, 07.29.2009

Submitted to the Chronicle Journal, 07.29.2009