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Much of last week’s Hastings County council meeting centred around healthcare in the county and the particular challenges of rural healthcare.
In a power point presentation Mayo Hawco, Chief Executive Officer of Gateway Community Health Centre in Tweed, began by quoting statistics recently shared by the Ontario Medical Association.
“In 2023 there were 2.5 million Ontarians without doctors.”
She went on to note that in 2026 there will be 4.4 million Ontarians without doctors.
“And that means in just over a year, approximately one in three or four Ontarians will not have access to a family physician.”
Hawco echoed what many health organizations have been sounding the alarm on.
“We have a primary care crisis. I wanted to start with that and say that this is not just provincial context, this is very much a local context…we feel it particularly in Centre Hastings and rural Hastings”
Hawco pointed out that ‘primary care looks very different in rural settings’, noting the wide range of urgent care that is given, how many patients are challenged by transportation and that they face more socio-economic challenges.
“I would suggest to you that in this type of environment, primary care is a specialty.”
She added that this is a time when she feels primary care physicians are largely underrated in both the province and nationally.
Despite this, Hawco went on to note that the rural challenges that necessitate such a broad spectrum of care also create opportunity.
“We can refer to a dietician, the respiratory therapist, chiropractors, we actually have a jazz band. It’s this range of services. And all of this makes the work very interesting and rewarding. So people want to come here because yes, there is great challenge, but as they say, the greater the challenge, the greater the reward.”
Later in the meeting, Dr. Robert Pincock from the Hastings Prince Edward Ontario Health Team shared some local statistics, including the fact that over 26,000 people do not have a primary care provider in Hastings Prince Edward and more than 5,000 do not have one in rural Hastings County.
You can watch the Hastings County Council meeting on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1AREsK3Kh8/here.