https://www.cna-aiic.ca/fr/blogs/ic-contenu/2019/02/26/lassociation-des-infirmieres-et-infirmiers-du-cana
Ottawa, February 26, 2019 – The Ontario government has announced its plan to create Ontario Health, a large publicly funded health-care agency that will consolidate the province’s 14 Local Health Integration Networks and six other health agencies. The province claims the move will end hallway health care, improve collaboration and focus more sharply on meeting patient needs.
Mike Villeneuve, CEO of the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA), and Dawn Tymianski, CEO of Nurse Practitioners Association of Ontario (NPAO), released the following joint statement on the new agency.
“CNA will be closely watching as the super agency, Ontario Health, begins to develop. For Canadians to successfully navigate the health system, many different providers must work together in more integrated teams. Ontarians deserve care delivered at the right place, by the right provider, and at the right time. CNA supports a system that moves toward better collaboration between all health-care providers and puts patients first,” said Villeneuve. But he noted that, in a province the size of Ontario, it will be important for the new agency not to lose sight of local needs and expectations. “We should not forget that one of the reasons the regional health authorities were created in the first place was to address the perceived gaps between regional, rural and remote care needs and the old centralized decision-making model.”
“NPAO applauds the Ontario government’s focused commitment on community teams and the shared responsibility in delivering patient-focused care,” said Tymianski.
“Like many systems, patient care in Ontario has been designed from the provider’s point of view, whether that be the hospital, clinic or home care,” said Villeneuve. “CNA is happy to see the Ontario government take any steps to overhaul care delivery so that it is better structured to meet individual, family and community needs. Among those changes, we have long advocated for enhanced access to virtual care and portable, accessible, electronic health records; we support the government’s efforts to accelerate that infrastructure.”
“Nurse practitioners working in all sectors — including community, hospital, long-term care, corrections, addiction and mental health services, and nurse practitioner-led clinics — look forward to working with the government to make the new agency effective. We can provide expertise and leadership that support innovative models of care coordination and collaboration to ensure every Ontarian gets the care he or she needs,” said Tymianski.
Nurses are the largest group of health-care providers in Canada and play an integral part of any health-care system transformation. CNA and NPAO strongly support maintaining a universal, publicly funded, not-for-profit health-care system.
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The Canadian Nurses Association is the national and global professional voice of Canadian nursing, representing 140,000 registered nurses and nurse practitioners in Canada. CNA advances the practice and profession of nursing to improve health outcomes and strengthen Canada’s publicly funded, not-for-profit health system.
The Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario is the only NP-led association that is the political and advocacy voice for over 3,000 nurse practitioners in Ontario. NPAO ensures that NPs have a voice wherever health-care conversations are taking place.
For more information, please contact:
Eve Johnston
Media and Communications Coordinator
Canadian Nurses Association
Tel: 613-237-2159, ext. 114
Cell: 613-237-3520
Email: ejohnston@cna-aiic.ca
Claudia Mariano, MSc, PHC-CP, NP-Adult
Director, Practice and Policy
Tel: 416-593-9779
Email: cmariano@npao.org
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