March 1, 2019 – Patients and health service providers across Ontario received more detail this week about the government’s long-term plan to overhaul the province’s health care system and reduce hallway health care.
Health and Long-Term Care minister Christine Elliott introduced Bill 74, The People’s Health Care Act, 2019 Tuesday morning, vowing to fix and strengthen the public health care system by focusing directly on the needs of Ontario’s patients and families.
The proposed legislation would establish Ontario Health, a new Crown agency that could begin to take shape in the spring. Ontario Health would take on the programs and operations of six health agency transfer partners, including Cancer Care Ontario, Health Quality Ontario, E-Health, Health Shared Services Ontario, Trillium Gift of Life, and HealthForceOntario Marketing and Recruitment Agency.
The plan would see the reorganization of Ontario’s 14 Local Health Integration Networks and their functions, and support the establishment of Ontario Health Teams, comprised of local, community-based health care providers and hospitals organized to work as a co-ordinated group. Ontario Health Teams would have shared responsibility for patient care plans, service provision, and outcomes, and would be accountable to Ontario Health.
Read the government news release for more information.