Mik Horvath/MBC
On Thursday, Oct. 9, Ontario Medical Association (OMA) President Dr. Zainab Abdurrahman visited healthcare facilities in the Ottawa Valley such as Pembroke Regional Health (PRH) and Renfrew Victoria Hospital (RVH).
Abdurrahman became president this May and typically each OMA president will dedicate a year of their term to visit hospitals around the province.
She said the tour is important because she gets to see firsthand who and what the OMA is representing.
The OMA serves as a direct representation of physicians in Ontario and is the supporting voice for the province’s doctors.
Abdurrahman said OMA’s visits allow local practitioners to speak directly on glaring issues or factors of success.
Based on discussions with local practitioners Abdurrahman said one of the most prominent concerns discussed is the lack of family doctors.
Data from a peer-reviewed journal published this May, reported that one in every five Canadian adults are lacking a primary care clinician and 15 per cent of those with an established clinician may lose them due to retirement this year.
The dataset also reports that despite there being a increase of family physicians, from 11,103 in 1993 to 17,413 in 2021, the average number of days worked per physician actually decreased from 170 to 151.
Abdurrahman also mentions that for individuals with family doctors it’s not exactly cool runnings; patients across the board are experiencing longer wait times.
Part of Abdurrahman’s mission is to figure out how hospitals can develop strategies to retain staff and seeing The Valley for the first time got some ideas developing.
She said the sparser, rural populations have a very close-knit healthcare community which Abdurrahman said promotes stronger teamwork and cooperation compared to urban centres.
These closer relationships between RVH, practitioners and the community is what Abdurrahman said is a key pillar of rural healthcare’s success.
Earlier this year RVH was under investigation due to “financial irregularities” and “a recurring theme of poor business and
governance practices that enabled this activity to persist over many years,” a report posted in April said.
Despite the discussions surrounding RVH’s financial habits, Abdurrahman said its current staff is poised to providing improved healthcare service no matter the obstacle.
Abdurrahman’s reception matches up with what recently appointed RVH president and CEO Suzanne Madore said at RVH’s evening of connection and gratitude earlier this month.
(Written by Mik Horvath)
