Health Care in Ontario has been in a state of crisis for many years now. I’ve practiced Family Medicine for 26 years, and I’ve never seenwait times so long, nor have I seen such a dismal moodamongst health care providers. Clearly, a major transformation of how health care is delivered needs to occur.
Ten days ago we saw a new government in Ontario. By glancing at twitter feeds and media reports, the biggest news in health care seemed to be about the appointment of new Health Minister Christine Elliott. Minister Elliott is an excellent person and will bring the kind of common sense to the Health Ministry that was completely absent during the Kathleen Wynne/Eric Hoskins years. BUT, the most important announcement last week (and one widely ignored by the media) was actually that of Helen Angus to role of Deputy Health Minister. She takes over for the widely dislikedBob Bell, who suddenly retired once the Liberals lost the election. Curious timing that retirement, considering the post is supposed to be apolitical.
You see, the Health Minister is the person who produces high-level strategic directions for health care service delivery. But it’s the Deputy Minister who actually carries out the grunt work and implements the processes to carry on these strategic directions. Having been part of many organizations, I’ve seen bureaucrats both greatly benefit – and greatly hinder – the implementation of these strategic directions. It will be up to Ms. Angus to do the heavy lifting, and transform the Health Care system.
Is she up to it? Her bio shows she has been heavily involved in health care for many years, including various roles at the Ontario Renal Network, Cancer Care Ontario, the Ministry of Health and others. She was actually the interim Deputy Minister of Health for five months, until the aforementioned Bob Bell was hired. Then she suddenly left the health care field altogether to help out the Ministry of Citizenship. (More curious timing there). So with that experience there is a sense that she will bring a steady hand to the position.
Based on her speech to the “Breakfast with the Chiefs” she also has the ability to “speak the language” of health care bureaucrats. Phrases like “shared accountability”, “transformation secretariat”, and “stream of work” fluidly roll off her tongue. Personally, I find these phrases vapid and incomprehensible (eHealth Ontario for example is not “still a journey” as she states, it’s a disaster). However, this kind of verbiage is needed to communicate with other health care leaders, so I’m glad that she is able use it.
What does she truly believe in as far as health care goes however? Assuming she wasn’t just towing a political line, it also appears from her speech that she recognizes the need to transform health care and break down the various silos in health care. Silos refer to the fact that we have a bunch of different organizations in health care, e.g. hospitals, home care, your doctor’s office, that operate independently, and often not in a co-ordinated manner.
When I was the Health Links lead physician for South Georgian Bay, I recall Deb Matthews referring to Ms. Angus as “the silo-buster”. Ms. Angus of course, never got to work on that because as mentioned, she suddenly left health care altogether when Bob Bell became the Deputy Health Minister. Bell, under the guidance of the pitiful Eric Hoskins and the forlorn Kathleen Wynne never got around to busting silos. Instead the three of them thought it would be better to get into a toxic, pernicious, and vexatious relationship with Ontario physicians. We all saw how that worked out.
Ms. Angus spoke of the need to make health care more patient centred, and improve access for patients. Part of that will require a significant streamline to Ontario’s bloated health care bureaucracy. Part of that will require she forces a dollop of common sense down her bureaucrats throats (why does it take two years to make a change when everybody agrees something is a good idea?).
The good news is that she appears to have some cover in that current Premier Doug Ford wants to run a fiscally responsible government and reduce bureaucracy (though by natural attrition as opposed to layoffs). More good news is that the Ontario Medical Association (with whom she must partner if any transformation is to occur), recently decided to temporarily suspend the arbitration process they are involved in, in order to hear the new governments position. As a gesture of good faith, they didn’t even ask for a concession for this move. If she can help to repair the noxious relationship created by the Liberals, and give doctors a meaningful say in how health care is delivered, she will be able to move more effectively in her goals.
It’s a big job ahead for her. For the sake of all Ontarians I wish her well. Our health care system is too important to be allowed to flounder any longer.
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
justanoldcountrydoctor 
Great first blog, Sohail!
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