Hollingsworth wants expansion of Northern Ontario School of Medicine

Ward 1 Coun. Sandra Hollingsworth will ask City Council next week to call for expanded capacity at Northern Ontario School of Medicine, with more physician and residency positions and additional clinical teaching.

In a resolution to be presented at Monday's council meeting, Hollingsworth and Ward 3 Coun. Donna Hilsinger say the north's physician shortage is contributing to a health-care crisis in the region.

The following is the full text of their resolution.

SooToday will livestream the meeting starting at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.

Northern Ontario School of Medicine support

Mover: Councillor S. Hollingsworth
Seconder: Councillor D. Hilsinger

Whereas the life expectancy of northern residents is more than two years lower than the Ontario average, and one person in eight across the north does not have access to a family doctor, and this represents the failure of health care in northern Ontario; and

Whereas these northern Ontario communities advocate for equitable health care, especially for under-served rural, Indigenous, and Francophone communities in northern Ontario; and

Whereas finding ways to encourage more physicians and health care professionals to stay and work in northern communities is contributing to a crisis for citizens in the north; and

Whereas, although highly successful at providing doctors for northern Ontario, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) has fewer health care professionals’ spots than the rest of Ontario medical schools and it would take at minimum, five NOSM graduating classes at sixty-four physicians per year to address the current shortage,

Now therefore be it resolved that, with the announcement of NOSM becoming a free-standing university, the City of Sault  Ste. Marie wishes to strongly request that the provincial government and the Ontario Medical Association immediately expand NOSM's capacity to meet the needs of northern Ontario, with added MD positions, residency positions (PGY 1, 3 and 4) and clinical teaching funding to the Northern Ontario Academic Medicine
Association; and

Further that a copy of this motion be forwarded to Premier Doug Ford, Minister of Colleges and Universities Jill Dunlop, Minister of Health Christine Elliott, MPP Ross Romano, Association of Municipalities of Ontario, Ontario Medical Association, Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities, Northern Ontario Academic Medical Association and the leaders of the opposition parties of Ontario