to pay more to fix the understaffed, hospitals, shuttered emergency rooms, surgical backlogs and health-worker shortages threatening the viability of their health systems.for their annual summer gathering this week, the attention will turn more to how to use the new money Ottawa has now promised.deal, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finally put new money on the table at a first ministers’ meeting in Ottawa in February.
Dr. Kathleen Ross, the president-elect of the Canadian Medical Association, said health must remain at the top of the agenda.“We are really on the peak of our challenges at the moment,” Ross said in an interview.Health care is expected to dominate the first day of the three-day meeting. Economic issues and affordability are also on the agenda.
The money came with conditions: each province and territory has to create targets and timelines that will be used to show that the money is being used to improve access and care.None of the provinces or territories have submitted their plans to far, and the bulk of the new money isn’t expected to flow until they do.
Provinces and territories are likely to compare notes before handing their plans over to the federal government, said Nunavut Health Minister John Main, but ultimately they will be unique to the challenges in each jurisdiction.“With the pandemic, it really changed the foundation in terms of staffing, and we also saw worsening of some types of public health issues that we’re dealing with,” including mental health and tuberculosis.