COVID-19

Manitoba has yet to approve extended virtual care visits with doctors or specialists and is the only province in the country that doesn't allow doctors to bill for such visits.

The SMA is asking the next government to make further investments in rural mental health and addictions treatment. This echoes pleas by rural physicians for access to mental health and addictions treatment professionals such as counsellors, psychologists or psychiatrists, and the ability to call on their services on short notice. Lack of access is particularly acute with children’s mental health care.

Ontario announced in March it was extending the validity of drivers' licences and health cards to promote physical distancing at ServiceOntario locations. But Dr. Samantha Hill, president of the OMA, said after many doctors supported the move, the province hasn't followed up regarding related claims.

In response to the staffing shortages, the commission recommended that in addition to increasing the supply of PSWs, the province should ensure LTC staff recruitment efforts are addressing the need for an appropriate mixture of staff to meet the "increasing acuity and complex care needs of residents."

The nurses, doctors and social workers involved in the mobile unit travel the city, jumping between homeless encampments and other areas to treat anyone in need of medical attention.

Since the pandemic struck last March, pharmacists have faced a multitude of challenges as they strive to maintain continuity of care. One change meant to help pharmacists better manage patients’ drug therapy is the federal government’s decision to issue a short-term subsection 56(1) exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA). And pharmacists are pushing hard to make the exemption permanent.

At the PHAC, the replacement of the most senior content expert, the chief public health officer, as leader with a bureaucrat with no knowledge of public health led to a dumbing down of the scientific information with important messages being lost, or not recognized or put on to a lower priority for fiscal or political reasons.

When Northern Ontario moved into stage two in June, our spas and salons suddenly got inundated with calls from 416 and 613 area codes. People desperate enough to blow 800 km worth of gas into our atmosphere to get their toenails painted. All of these tiny microaggressions toward the future citizens of the planet; all so encased in the fabric of our hyperconsumeristic culture that we don't see them as part of a far greater health threat than COVID-19.