NOSM applauds OMA commitment to Northern Ontario health

The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) hosted the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) in Sudbury on October 25, 2021 for the launch of the OMA’s northern health-care recommendations called Prescription for Northern Ontario.

“This is an unprecedented commitment from the OMA to health care in Northern Ontario,” says Dr. Sarita Verma, NOSM Dean, President and CEO. “Our health-care system was fragile before the pandemic, now it is on the brink of a crisis. We are grateful to the OMA for listening to doctors and creating a plan that will assist in advocating and changing the landscape of health care in the North for decades to come.”

In developing the OMA Prescription for Northern Ontario, more than 1,600 physicians and physician leaders provided input. In addition, associations representing hospitals, nurses and many other health-care professionals participated in consultations while almost 8,000 Ontarians in 600 communities offered feedback through an online survey. As the voice of 43,000 physicians in Ontario, the OMA has tremendous impact and has committed to advocate for better resources for mental health and addictions, long-term care and virtual medicine amongst other key priorities.

“I applaud the OMA for listening and taking action. Now is the time for all institutions to come together and contribute to a health-care model in Northern Ontario that is sustainable,” added Dr. Sarah Newbery, NOSM Assistant Dean Physician Workforce Strategy. “NOSM has been very successful in improving access to quality health care for Northern Ontarians, but the reality is we have so much more work to do.”

According to NOSM’s estimates, more than 300 physicians are needed in the North and that number does not factor retirements that may take place over the next five years. NOSM’s strategic plan, The NOSM Challenge 2025, identified this as the key priority with a focus on specialist and subspecialist physician training.

As NOSM prepares to transition to Canada’s first standalone medical university, Dr. Verma is consulting widely across Northern Ontario. RSVP for one of the following sessions: