LETTER: Mayor's criticism of Ford government 'right on'

SooToday received the following Letter to the Editor from reader Peter Vaudry in response to this article: Shoemaker wonders why health minister responds to SooToday but not to him.

Mayor Matthew Shoemaker has referenced this SooToday article in an afternoon tweet on the social media platform X, wondering why our news outlet has better luck getting responses from Ontario health minister Sylvia Jones than he does.

I’m a citizen of the Sault and one of the many without a family physician. The mayor’s tweet that “perhaps press coverage is of greater concern than solutions” seems, to me, to be right on. In my opinion, this is the voice of a government that does not hear or listen to the voter.

It certainly appears that the Ford government is more concerned about its image in contacting the press expeditiously instead of responding to the legitimate concern of Mayor Shoemaker. The mayor is the elected head of the municipal government and as such is speaking to the concerns that are expressed to him and council members by the citizens of Sault Ste. Marie. He is our voice. We elected the provincial government who should also listen and hear the voice of the voter but appear to be more interested in press releases to improve their image.

I wish @CitySSM could get a response as quickly as@SooToday has to the numerous letters and outreach we’ve made to Minister Jones and the Ministry of Health. Perhaps press coverage is of greater concern than solutions. https://t.co/MEGWiVtNmK

— Matthew Shoemaker (@SooShoe) May 15, 2024

The statement that Re: No concern about ‘diminished supply’ of doctors: ministry, May 9. (Ottawa Citizen) We should not have to tell our elected provincial government that they are really out of touch. That it is really tone deaf to the reality of what has been happening and is continuing to happen while this government, elected to listen to and represent us, sends out press releases to enhance an image of a government. That’s not a government that cares.

Both my wife and I were original paying members of the GHC. However, in my case, like many in the Sault, I have been without a GHC family doctor for years. I had 2 nurse practitioners affiliated with the GHC and both have left the GHC. I now have a 3rd nurse practitioner at IDA, outside the GHC, which is one reason why my prescriptions are being renewed. (I’m grateful this profession exists).

I am only one case, but it's real. There is a diminished supply of doctors. Admit it and start to realistically address the problem with all the relevant parties, including the municipalities. If they have no concern about this and can’t realistically address the problem instead of sending out a press release we are in more trouble than we thought.

As to “launching the largest expansion of medical education in 15 years,” first, why was this not done much sooner? And second, it will take more than four years for students to become qualified doctors. And, with regard to the funding of “two new and expanded interdisciplinary primary care teams," announced earlier this year, it didn’t prevent the de-rostering of 10,000 CHC patients in the Sault. In any case, how do either of those funding initiatives address the long-standing, significant and increasingly urgent problems of physician retention and recruitment?

As Mayor Shoemaker pointed out, “there’s a lot wrong on this file.” How about putting effort into fixing that instead of into issuing defensive press releases?

Peter Vaudry